


Inkspell.

by youngjusticewriter



Series: My PJ plotbunnies. [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Armed Detective Agency Member Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Crossover, Dazai Osamu Being An Asshole (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai-Typical Suicide Mentions (Bungou Stray Dogs), Gen, Manga Spoilers, Protective Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Protective Percy Jackson, expect I’m not going to play it off as a joke, the Armed Detective Agency is a found family, the two previous tags are not conflicting because this is Dazai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjusticewriter/pseuds/youngjusticewriter
Summary: Because of a passing breeze the man’s trench coat and some fallen leaves drifted in the wind. “That reminds me - I suppose it’s rude of me not to introduce myself! It’s a pleasure to meet you my new friend. I’m Osamu Dazai.”And that was how Percy’s new life began.[\]Or, Percy saves Dazai from drowning while underwater. Dazai is naturally curious how that worked considering Percy was holding his wrist.
Relationships: Osamu Dazai & Percy Jackson
Series: My PJ plotbunnies. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753591
Comments: 85
Kudos: 285





	1. Dazai’s day does not go swimmingly.

The sound of moving train was the loudest noise Percy could hear and it only added to the anxiety Percy felt. They should have caught up to him by now. The two sisters had never stayed dead no matter how many times or what different ways Percy had killed them. The thing was no matter how much they attempted to do the same to him Percy never died. His clothes were torn, dirtied, and burnt until there was barely any - if there was any to begin with - spot of the fabric that was intact without some sort of damage to it. 

Still it was unsettling to not have seen the smiley one and Eurayle. The so far peace was more unsettling than waking up a city Percy hadn’t recognized...or rather hadn’t chosen to come to; none of the cities or towns he had past through had been familiar no matter how much Percy strained to try and remember his past. 

His thumb ran down the plastic part of his pen before stopping at where the rubber grip began. Percy lifted his thumb and started over again. It was soothing ministration that he had started back when he had been with Lupa. Percy had had insomnia a good many of nights that he had been under the she-wolf’s tutelage and even if he was capable of sleep Percy had often put it off despite the consequences it would have for the next day. 

His nightmares and even his dreams were never a fun experience. Lupa had said it was because of what his kind was and who his grandfather was. Apparently Percy had inherited something akin to soothsaying because Saturn wasn’t only the Titan of harvest but of time itself. Percy’s lips dropped and then twisted. For some reason the thought of Saturn- 

It was a noise - the gurgling - that made Percy’s head shoot up. His thumb hovered over the cap of his pen but it wasn’t the Gorgons that Percy’s eyes fell upon. A pair of bent legs were upright in the river and soon would be floating past him. 

It could be a trap. 

(Percy had never gone through a day without being attacked at least once. While sun might be blocked by the train Percy knew it was beginning to set for the day. Percy had not assaulted once so far today.) 

But someone could need help. 

The legs clad in white pants were drifting further away and the person partially submerged in the river wasn’t doing anything but twitching their left leg. 

Percy closed the space between himself the source of water. Despite the decision he didn’t put his pen in his pocket but kept it cradled in the palm of his hand. He might be tired (Percy had learnt to be quick when sleeping because neither of the sisters were above trying to murder him in his sleep) but the water would restore energy and strength to him. Percy had come to learn it wasn’t just prophetic dreams he had inherited from his father’s side of the family. 

The water lapped at his ankles before rising above them as Percy walked further into river. He felt movement at his feet but nothing bit him. No fishes ever did. His movement gained speed. It was easy to pick his destination and start making his way towards it despite the strength of the current. The person still hadn’t done anything besides float through the water and that was more on the river 

Percy didn’t remember having a home and perhaps he never had but he would like to think that home was something like this: somewhere he felt safe. It was at that thought that Percy finally dove into water instead of making his way through it. 

‘He’s here again,’ said a raspy voice as Percy moved his arms in front of him and then pushed them apart. 

Percy didn’t try to figure out which fish had said that - he even put a pin in just who was the he being referred to - as he kicked his legs and once more made his arms depart from each other. His right arm wasn’t cupped but rather curled into a fist because of the pen that between his fingers- 

Green eyes found opened, brown ones. Despite drowning the man’s eyes were opened and even alert despite the small fact of, you know, drowning. What was going on- 

Percy pushed the question aside in favor of reaching out for one of the stranger’s bandaged wrist. He began to pull. Hopefully, he wasn’t too strong in doing so. The water always gave Percy strength and maybe that strength was a bit too powerful compared to a mortal’s. Mortals weren’t like demi-gods or legacies. They were weaker in strength and in all of their senses. They couldn’t even remember what would happen if they ever ran into a monster and that was Percy had to be careful when in a city. You never knew just how a mortal might justify whatever they saw. 

The gurgling abruptly stopped and it wasn’t just the man’s eyes that widened. The stranger opened his mouth as though to question Percy only for him to start coughing. The man’s back curled from how hard he had to cough to get out the water in his lungs but that didn’t stop Percy from dragging them to the surface by the man’s wrist and the handful of loosened bandages that came with said scrawny wrist. 

He was still coughing by the time Percy dragged the man onto the bank of the river. Mud slid through the man’s hair and clothing since Percy was dragging him by the wrist. He was well dressed, Percy now noticed since he was no longer trying to rescue the stranger. Both a vest and coat were worn over a white shirt that - Percy’s eyes flickered to the man’s elbows before sliding down to his covered wrists - sleeves didn’t reach that far. The sleeves of light brown coat reached just before the elbow so they too were somewhat short. The rest of the man’s arms were covered by white cloth of bandages that had loosened around the stranger’s skin because of his trip down the river. 

Percy didn’t see any blood anywhere on the man. But then again you could hit your head pretty hard without breaking open skin and bleeding everywhere....but the man’s eyes though. The brown eyes had been alert- 

The hacking finally stopped. Through his dark vest Percy could the man’s stomach lift and then fall down as he finally was allowed to exhale some air without any disturbance.

“Are you okay?” 

“....I made it,” the man spoke under his breath before opening his mouth once more. “Damn.” 

For a second Percy’s brain stopped. “What?” Percy asked as though he had heard wrong despite knowing he hadn’t. Maybe asking that questioning would make the guy elaborate on what he meant. 

“Tell me are you the one who interrupted my submersion?” Brown eyes looked up at Percy before falling down to his curled up wrist - to Riptide. There was something curious in them. The look in the stranger’s eyes reminded Percy of how the Gorgons had responded to being unable to tear him apart with their talons or bite through the skin of his neck with the tusks that were their teeth.

Maybe the person was a monster after all. 

The stranger got up from the ground and instead of attacking Percy he merely walked ahead of him. 

“You don’t remember?” The guy’s eyes had been open though. The man had been coughing even before they had reached the surface because apparently being in contact with a person made them breath under water too. Was it because of who his father was or did this have to do with his ability to be unharmed? Probably the former given just what his father had powers over. 

The train had apparently finished passing by and because of that Percy could finally see the sunset. It bathed the dropping man in light; droplets of water fell from his overgrown hair and onto his layers of clothing and from there they fell to the ground. 

A soft, so soft one could barely hear it, pitter-patter. 

The man partially turned around to face Percy as he had shoved his hands in the pockets. 

Percy didn’t put his hands in his pockets. His pen - his only weapon - stayed between his fingers. Some monsters looked more humans than others after all. 

“No, I can’t say I do.” The man lied without a hitch in his tone. Brown eyes didn’t even flicker away for just a second. A moment and then he added, “Everything was going so swimmingly until I woke up on the bank so, again, no, I can’t say I do.” His mouth twisted and something flashed on the man’s face before it smothered over.

Despite what was going on Percy couldn’t help but repeat, “Swimmingly?” 

In a tone of voice that left Percy with the impression he had inconvenienced the guy, “I was trying to kill myself but then you interfered and ruined my day. It’s not al, your fault though. My goal is to commit a completely clean suicide without burdening anyone...yet I did trouble you so really the fault lies with me.” 

In his eyesight his knuckles grew white. Percy’s grip on Riptide was growing harder and it wasn’t from fear of the person before him being a threat. “What about your friends? Your mom- your parents?” The words spilled out of his mouth. “Even if you kill yourself without it being a mess you’re still hurting them.” 

And for a second Percy felt as though this wasn’t the first time something akin to this conversation had been thought on by hi- 

The man gave an indulgent smile as he was still being bathed in sunlight. Neither of these things made Percy feel comfortable. Seconds perhaps even minutes passed by. Water droplets fell to ground and that was the only noise until the man’s lips parted. “Are you by chance hungry?” His eyes once more fell over Percy, taking in the sight of him. The stranger raised a single eyebrow ahd by doing so it was hidden by his brunette hair. “Or do you need a new pair of clothes. By jumping into the river after me you’ve soaked your yen.” 

Percy was beginning to notice a trend when it came to having a conversation with this man. “Yen?” 

Eyelashes fluttered as the man blinked. His eyebrow dropped and therefore came into view. Something apparently slotted into place because he tried to explain, ‘Your pounds.’ A moment and then the stranger tried, ‘Your dollars.’ 

Now that was a word Percy recognized. 

Suddenly the man pulled his hands out of pockets only he took the fabric of the coat’s pockets out with him. Nothing fell out of the soaked fabric. “I’m afraid the river took my wallet and possibly yours as well.” 

Percy didn’t check if it had because he hadn’t ever had a wallet to begin with. Riptide and the bead necklace were the only possessions besides the torn and burnt clothing on his skin that Percy had with. 

The man didn’t get a chance to comment on the lack of frantic checking. 

“There you are, you troublesome blockhead.” Another man screamed and Percy knew it wasn’t to him but rather the stranger he had saved. Percy turnt his head to the right. Across the river stood a man by the stairs that took you up to city from the bank of the river. He must have been yelling pretty loud to be heard all the way over here. 

“You found me! Nice work, Kunikida.” Congratulated the man and despite his words he didn’t sound all that enthusiastic. 

“Nice work?!” Repeated Kunikida. “And just who caused all this work you suicidal manic?!” 

Percy’s eyes narrowed. So not only did the two of them know each other - Kunikida knew that this person was suicidal. So either the stranger had confided to Kunikida...or this wasn’t the first time this man had tried to kill himself. 

“I’ve had enough of this,” Kunikida continued, the volume in which he spoke with growing. “Do you realize just how much you’ve disrupted my schedule with your-“ 

Riptide didn’t break under the strength of Percy’s grip but Percy was pretty sure that had to with the fact the pen was magically and not because Percy wasn’t holding it too tightly. Still Percy didn’t shove the pen into his pocket. 

(Just because the person seemed human didn’t mean he wouldn’t attack Percy sooner or later.) 

Percy was startled out of his thoughts by screaming. “HEY, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!” 

Clear amusement from the yelling had etched it self on the unnamed man’s face that was still damp from his time in the river before curiosity gently replaced it. “So tell me what’s your name?” 

Names were powerful in Percy and possibly this man’s world too. How people referred to Percy was always a great, big, red flag so Percy didn’t mind giving his first. (But then again, whispered a part of him, all the monsters that had called him Perseus had already known who he was.) 

“Percy,” he answered and waited to see if there was any reaction out of the ordinary. Maybe he was grasping at straws considering how smoothly the guy had lied to him earlier. 

“Very good. Why don’t you come with me, Percy? I do have to somehow pay back my savior whether it be by a meal or a pair of clothes.” A moment and then, “...Unless there’s someone you need to meet up with?” 

The answer to that was one big blank. Ever since he had woken up his life had just been one huge blank. His loved ones (if he had any to begin with) were ________. His oldest friend was ______. He was from ________. Anyone from his past life was simply and cruelly forgotten about. 

Well... that was true besides one name- 

The man craned his head to the side. “ Come on then. I’ll get Kunikida to pay for whatever you want.” 

“Don’t you get all generous with my money, Dazai!” 

Because of a passing breeze the man’s trench coat and some fallen leaves drifted in the wind. “That reminds me - I suppose it’s rude of me not to introduce myself! It’s a pleasure to meet you my new friend. I’m Osamu Dazai.” 

And that was how Percy’s new life began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hannah’s magic cure for every ill,” Nat had said. “Blueberry cake and a kitten.” Kit smiled to see it working its charm on Prudence. But there was an invisible ingredient that made the cure unfailing. The Bible name for it was love.


	2. Percy has a dam problem.

Despite it be evening (and thus everyone being off work) the hole in the wall restaurant Dazai chose was particularly empty. It would have been empty of customers if the three of them weren’t there. 

“You’re unreliable and a fool, Dazai.” 

“What do you ever mean?” Dazai asked in mocking aghast. He even went as far as to take a break from eating crab so he could to turn his head to the side and blink up at Kunikida. Percy fiddled with his utensil, his eyes flickered between the two men before him, Dazai’s meal, and Percy’s own meal. (He had asked Kunikida on advice on what to eat as the waitress had written down Dazai’s seafood order.)

The crab sashimi - Dazai’s order - had managed to ruin Percy’s appetite. Considering he had previously been digging out thrown out food in dumpsters that truly said something. To be honest Percy couldn’t remember the last time he had a full meal like this in front of him. Still, despite his lack of hunger, Percy didn’t feel like it was right to just discard a meal. It just felt wrong. 

Kunikida has simply looked Dazai straight in the eye. His glasses glinted under the light of the lamps. “Who says, wow, that’s a nice river and then proceeds to jump into it in middle of a job?” The last part of the sentence was stressed on. 

Apparently Dazai had done so more than once considering the fish’s nonchalant reaction to him. 

“Now we’re late,” declared Kunikida. The taller man of the two had gone back to looking at the contents of his notebook. “I’ll have to revise our whole schedule-“ 

“You’re obsessed with your schedules, Kunikida.” Commented Dazai, his right hand laid on top of the other and his elbows were on the table. 

A thump filled the restaurant as Dazai’s partner slammed it down on the table as he sprung from the chair he had been sitting it. “Oh? This book isn’t some just some day planner.” The man started poking the book with a finger. “This is an ideal. This is my sole guide in life. And no where in this book does it say that my coworker should a suicidal manic!” 

“Then help him,” Percy said, finally cutting into the conversation that was more bickering than genuine talk on the discussion of what had occurred earlier today. 

Brown eyes flickered to meet Percy’s. “Help him?” Kunikida repeated as if he had heard wrong. His tone suggested Percy should keep out of the conversation. 

“Recommend a therapist or ask about on one. Talk to his friends and family about the attempts,” Percy suggested and, yeah, Dazai could very likely see it as a betrayal but if it helped him in the long run than it was worth it. “Or talk to him yourself. Not this - not what you’re doing now - just....” he trailed off as Dazai’s eyes found his. The man’s smile was jagged thing that left Percy with the impression that Dazai could easily set about to Percy as he had set his eyes upon hurting himself. It took Percy a minute to fumble together what he wanted to say. “Ask him if he wants to talk about the attempt, why he wants to commit suicide, or ask him if he wants to be distracted.” 

Dazai’s exaggerated his reaction to Percy’s words by widening his eyes in curiosity. “Distract me?” 

“To talk about something else or-“ once more Percy paused. His lips dipped into a frown. He knew the last option of his answer was there - it felt like it was on the top of his tongue - but he just couldn’t grab onto it. For not the first time Percy cursed whoever had stolen his memories. Finally he spoke in a softer voice, “...Just do something.” It almost sounded like a plead. 

Kunikida once more looked down on Percy. Despite the man towering over him (even more than usual since Percy was in a chair) Percy wasn’t afraid of Kunikida. He had fought worst and would keep fighting worse. (The day would soon be over and he hadn’t been attacked once. It had to be soon.) The two Gorgon sisters Percy had fought with reformed like evil dust bunnies no matter how many times Percy killed them. The method - once of which involved Percy running them over them again and again a police car - didn’t matter either. 

There was no frustration in Kunikida voice when he spoke; there was only a disturbing and tired solemnness to the man’s voice, “Kid, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help.” 

“Then give him a reason to want help.” 

Dazai sniffed like he had been crying. “Can we keep him, Kunikida? He continues to be my knight in shinning armor.” 

“Don’t you dare,” Kunikida began to growl, “ask that kid to commit a double suicide with you.” 

“I said keep, Kunikida!” Dazai corrected with a light tone of voice. He added, “You must surely be old if you’re growing hard of hearing. Aging how cruel you are to already be taking one of my co-worker’s senses from him! Almost as cruel as the grey hair that’s grown on his-“ 

“What grey hair?” Squawked Kunikida. 

Dazai continued unabashed. It, Percy reflected, was like watching a car crash. “You should write the following down. Plucking grey hair is said to be unhealthy. You’ll have to dye it.” 

A soft thud filled the restaurant as Kunikida once more opened his notebook. This time he kept it on the table instead of in between his hands. Probably because he was planning to write in it unlike earlier. “Plucking grey hair is unhealthy,” Kunikida began to mutter under his breath as he wrote. 

“Kunikida,” Dazai practically sang his partner’s name, “I was kidding.” 

Snap. The pen between Kunikida’s fingers broke into half. Some droplets of ink splattered about while the rest of it began to leak out of the fallen part of the pen. The dark colored ink began to pool. It would probably stain the table. 

Percy wondered how much the table would cost. Considering the amused look on a Dazai’s face he wasn’t bothered at the additional cost despite having lost his wallet in the river. 

Something twisted in Percy’s stomach at the joyful expression on Dazai’s bright face. Dazai really didn’t want to be helped, did he? 

Percy’s words came back to him: then give him a reason to want help. 

Considering how Dazai’s (successful) attempt at changing the conversation had went Percy simply took his own advice. Only he didn’t ask if Dazai wanted to be distracted. “So what are you running late on?” 

“Didn’t you have a pen?” Kunikida inquired suddenly as he worked on cleaning up the ink with some napkins. 

Percy’s eyes darted to the man who was tilted over as he worked. “It’s out of ink.” He simply said. Percy had never tried to write with Riptide before so he didn’t know if he was lying or not. He did know however that he wasn’t going to give away his only weapon to the stranger even if said stranger was going to pay for his meal. 

(The day was going to end in a few hours and yet Percy hadn’t been attacked yet.) 

“Then why do you keep it?” Kunikida’s words were said in a grumble since he had lost his chance at updating the schedule Dazai had said he was obsessed with earlier. 

The words came out before Percy could think on a reply, “It was a gift from someone I was close to.” After he realized what he had said Percy tried to think of a backstory. “He was the only teacher who believed in me and that meant a lot.” Lupa had been the only teacher Percy could remember but considering his fight style he must have had one before. Someone must have taught him to fight with a sword and had given him one. Or maybe someone else besides his teacher had given him the weapon. 

Kunikida didn’t pester anymore on that line of questioning. Dazai stepped in to fill the silence. “We’re private investigators and we have been-“ 

Kunikida smoothly interrupted, “We handle more than just lost pets or cheating spouses. Our office has uniquely gifted investigators.” 

Percy’s heartbeat began to thump faster. Lupa had told him there were others like him. Were these men demi-gods? 

Or, whispered a part of him, was this trap? Honey caught more flies than vinegar after all. 

“We’re the Armed Detective Agency.” 

It was Percy’s turn to cut into the conversation. “Are you trying to imply you guys have superpowers or something?” He tried to screw up his face in disbelief. “Like as in, you know, someone who could fly like Wonder Woman, who could stop bullets like Superman, and someone else who could breathe under water like Aqua Man?” 

Kunikida stared. “Who?” 

“As in the Justice League,” Percy explained. Kunikida continued to look upon Percy in confusion. Maybe he wasn’t a fan of DC? “It’s a big comic series.” Percy had found a few of the comics of that superhero team some time after he had left Lupa. He hadn’t been able to finish them all cause of two certain siblings. 

“Think manga, Kunikida.” Dazai informed his partner. Apparently that answer explained it well enough because Kunikida stopped looking at Percy like he was crazy. Dazai however took Kunikida’s place in staring at Percy. “You’re from the United States aren’t you? I take it your family visiting Japan for vacation. I could recommend some wonderful places to visit in the city to your parents. It’s the least I could do after troubling you.” 

Japan? 

If he was in Japan then surely Percy wouldn’t be able to understand them. 

But then again Percy lived in a world where people’s memories - including even demi-gods’ - could be effected by the Mist. A world where monsters could keep coming back to life over and over again. Where a giant wolf by the name of Lupa could communicate with him well enough to train him. 

And last but not least Percy himself could talk to animals that lived in the sea. 

So, yeah, Percy didn’t have a right to be freaked out by that. 

“- Kunikida and I should at the very least make sure you make it home safely.” 

“You don’t have to,” Percy said, interrupting Dazai. Despite refusing the man’s plans Percy already began to rack his head on the memory of the apartment building he had woken up in. 

“With everything that’s been going on lately? Of course we have to make sure you get back to your family safely.” 

Kunikida began to open his mouth only to abruptly shut it. He shot Dazai an ugly look. 

“Everything going on?” Percy repeated. He softly (so not to further draw attention to the movement) let go of his grip on his utensil and moved his hand under the table. 

Kunikida in that moment looked as though he was aging several years. His mouth twisted before his lips parted so he could speak. “There’s been a good many disappearances lately. While there have been some adults who have been reported missing its mostly been children and teenagers who have been victims.” 

Children and teenagers. Lupa had said that monsters tended to attack demi-gods at the age of twelve but there were occasions, she-wolf had admitted, where such battles occurred earlier or later in life. 

...So that’s why he hadn’t been attacked yet. There were other demi-gods out there to battle with. 

“The government believes the,” Kunikida paused for just a moment before forcing himself to say the words, “victims are being devoured by a tiger that’s been witnessed about the city.” 

“A tiger?” There was a small chance it was an actually tiger that eating these people but Percy greatly doubted it. 

“Yes,” Dazai answered, “a ferocious man-eater who has recently appeared in the city. It’s been racksaking warehouses and likely is the behind the disappearances.” A moment and then, “So do you understand why we want to make sure you got home safely?” 

Percy’s eyes flickered to Kunikida. “Are you sure it won’t be an inconvenience to your schedule?” He asked as a last hope. Because, yes, there was a chance this agency was made of people like him but there was a good chance this was a trap. A way to figure out how to finally kill Percy who despite the Gorgon sisters best (and many) attempts had yet to die. 

Kunikida looked to Dazai. His mouth thinned. “No, it won’t,” he said to reassure Percy. 

Well, Percy thought, dam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.
> 
> [\\] 
> 
> This chapter is brought early to you because of stress. (The ice cream I ate early didn’t help so I went ahead and wrote this.) 
> 
> In other news who is excited to see what’s going on Atsushi and these disappearances?


	3. BANG.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tag warnings: cannablism and canon typical Atsushi losing a limb. Neither is graphic but it’s mentioned in dialogue.

The plastic handles of the to-go bag rested in Percy’s left hand. The smell of his meal, along with having left the restaurant and therefore the lingering smell of Dazai’s own meal, Percy’s appetite slowly began to creep back. 

“So tell me how have you been enjoying your vacation?” Inquired Dazai, breaking the silence as they made their way through the city. It was dusk and surprisingly there weren’t that many people about in the streets. When Percy did spot someone they, like the three of them (though not by Percy’s choice), they were either with a second person or a group. Probably because the disappearances, Percy thought. Not for the first time since Dazai had revealed the news Percy wondered just what monster was. The Gorgons hadn’t- 

“Percy,” Dazai called his name as though to wheedle him into replying by the loud volume he had spoken in. “Have you’ve grown tired of me already? Is that why you’re not answering my small talk-“ 

“What were you asking?” 

“I was asking if you had been enjoying your vacation with your family. Though,” Dazai suddenly paused for a second, “you never did say you were vacationing with your family. Are you perhaps studying abroad?” 

Percy couldn’t help but ask, “Do I look that age?” At those words Percy couldn’t help but imagine a life where the worst he had to worry about was juggling between  
keeping up good grades, having a personal life, and having a job instead of whatever what one could attempt to describe the life Percy was surviving through. 

When Percy met Dazai’s eyes there was something there in them. It was gone before Percy could put a name to it. A smile split itself on Dazai’s face that was bathed by the bright colors of the advertisement signs. “If you’re a student never let your uniform get like how your clothes are now. It’ll reflect poorly on the establishment.” Dazai brought a bandaged wrist up only to wave his hand as though to dismiss the subject. “So which are you? A vacationer or a student?” 

Percy shot the man an amused look. Least it could be described as amused for lack of a better word. “Do you always ask so many questions?” 

Dazai let out a good natured laugh as though the question didn’t bother him at all. Whether it was because Percy hadn’t come off as rude when asking it or because Dazai had been told he was nosy a good many of time he was use to being called out of it Percy didn’t know. A third option, Percy realized, was Dazai very well knew he was nosy and he didn’t care. Both the second and third guesses had an equal chance of being true. Who knew. It could be both instead of just a single one. 

Dazai then lifted both his hands as though surrendering or to say, you caught me. “Well I did promise to recommend some places to travel to or eat at if you and your family were vacationing. If you’re attending school then there’s not much point....” 

“You would end up flirting with my mom,” Percy accused with a tone of voice that suggested that it wasn’t something acceptable even though he wasn’t walking towards a home where his mom was waiting for him.

...Did he even have a mom? (Some of the gods didn’t only have lovers from the opposite sex after all. They were gods. Surely they could create a kid one way or another if they wanted to gift a mortal with their offspring? ) 

Was she even alive? Would she be worried about him or would the Mist have manipulated memories of him that she had? 

Despite not remembering this person Percy’s heart sunk at the thought. 

“I would never!” Dazai declared, crying out. Several ugly looks were shot in their direction. Maybe they thought loud noises would attract what they believed was a tiger so Percy didn’t blame their rudeness. 

Percy shot Dazai a flat, unimpressed look despite appreciating having been brought out of his thoughts. “Our waitress,” and that was all he needed to say. 

“He would along with asking her to commit a double suicide with him,” Kunikida said, speaking up for the first time during this conversation. He gave Percy a pointed look. His face, with the glasses perched on his nose, was bathed in bright lights of the signs too. 

Dazai began to sniff. “You two have such cruel opinions of me.” After a moment he added, “Kunikida must be effecting you, Percy! Having such a negative outlook on life must be contagious-“ 

Kunikida massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers; the irony of Dazai’s words wasn’t lost on either of them ( possibly Dazai too even if the man didn’t show it). There was dried ink stained on his fingers. Percy stared at the sight. Why hadn’t Kunikida excused himself to the bathroom so he could wash them off? Was he truly as fixated on his schedule as Dazai accused him? A schedule that already had been delayed a good thirty minutes or so.... Why had Kunikida agree then to walk Percy home then? 

(The day was almost over and he had yet to be attacked at least once today. It had to happen soon.) 

(Just because they looked human didn’t these two men were.) 

Percy’s right hand slipped into his pocket. His fingers curled around Riptide but he didn’t pull it out yet. There weren’t a lot of people on the street but they were still there. They could be hurt. They could be used against him either by monsters (if these men were monsters) or by the Mist which would manipulate their memories so Percy was the offender.

And if they demi-gods who were for one reason or another going to attack him then Riptide would still work on th- 

Dazai suddenly spoke up, “If you’re in school I could always write the places down and you can visit when it’s a Sunday or when you’re on break. I’ll have to borrow a pen and paper though.” At these words Dazai shot a look to Kunikida. “Kunikida won’t let me borrow his even if I ask nicely.” 

Kunikida growled out, “Perhaps you should have asked nicely in the first place. Actions have consequences, Dazai.” 

They were close to the apartment building Percy had woken up in this morning. Percy turned onto the corner. “How are you two functioning partners again?” 

“It’s because we balance each other out. Or, least, that’s the excuse the President gave when he put us together.” At Dazai’s words Percy wondered how well they balanced each other out in the field. 

“We’re here.” Percy announced before turning to completely face the two men. “Thanks for walking me home.” He didn’t offer to let them inside the apartment he was ‘staying at’ with his family. 

“Do you still have a key?” Inquired Dazai, “I’m asking because my wallet was taken in the river.” At these words Dazai shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled the fabric out as if to prove he wasn’t lying. Like earlier, nothing fell out of the pockets. “If the lost of the key is something that will get you in trouble with your parents or the owner we can explain-“ 

“That Dazai is an idiot and you were only trying to help,” Kunikida said, cutting into Dazai’s offer. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a card. “Here,” he offered it to Percy, “in case you do get into trouble and need to contact us. The money to replace the key will come out of Dazai’s pocket, of course, not the Agency’s but this fool lost his cellphone as well as his wallet so you’ll have to contact Dazai by this number.” 

Percy eyed the outstretched hand. He entertained how easy it would be for Kunikida to drop his grip on that card and attack Percy once he stepped closer to the man. Percy pulled his right hand out of his pocket with Riptide in between his fingers. There wasn’t much room in his hand to grab the card but not wrinkling it was the least of his concerns. 

With drawn together eyebrows Kunikida placed the card in Percy’s hand. “Stay safe,” was all the blonde haired man told Percy. Kunikida sounded like he genuinely cared over Percy’s safety but Stheno always sounded cheerful when she tried to kill him so tones of voice could only be trusted so far. 

“You too,” Percy wished. His gaze flickered between the two detectives. It was mostly Kunikida who Percy’s gaze lingered on. “Take care of each other.” At those words Percy shoved the company card into his pocket but kept Riptide in his hand. He climbed up the stairs. Neither one of the men attacked him while his back was turned. 

That didn’t make Percy feel better. (Because the day was almost over and he hadn’t been attacked once...and he didn’t know how to trust the peace he had been given today.) Still he kept climbing up the steps and then went into the building. Once inside - the door behind him closed with a thud - Percy paused in movement as he weighed his options. He could wait here in the entrance for a good few minutes (he needed to give the men enough time for them to not only leave but there to be enough distance between them that Percy wouldn’t run into them when he himself left) or he could investigate the apartment he had woken up in earlier. Because Percy hadn’t had a key to apartment he hadn’t been able to lock it when he had left. So, unless someone had gone into there, it should still be unlocked...

Well he did have time to blow. Might as well put a good use to it by going through that apartment. Maybe there was something there Percy had missed the first time when he had briefly looked about.

With his mind made up Percy made his way through the building. The apartment had been on the second floor. This time around Percy took the stairs instead of the elevator. He didn’t grab the railing as he walked up the stairs; he wanted Riptide already in his hand in case he needed it and his left hand was already occupied by carrying the fast food bag. It, the bag, still smelled mouth watering. Maybe he would eat it before leaving this place. 

It didn’t take that long to get to the second floor. Percy had a lean build and had plenty experience running like his life depended on it. Yes, his skin protected him but Percy didn’t know how and that wasn’t comforting. There was always a way to undue something. There was always a weakness. It just mattered how dedicated you were in finding it and the Gorgons were very dedicated. Percy, like pretty much everything else in his life, didn’t remember how he had his invulnerability (Was it something he was born with? Had it been something he had been gifted with or achieved by some quest?) and therefore didn’t know it’s weakness. Well, Percy realized how that he was thinking on the subject, he did know he grew tired after putting a lot into a battle. So was the drawback or was it something else? 

Percy put the plastic bag onto the carpet before making his way to the first apartment door. Lightly he tried to twist the doorknob. It didn’t budge and so Percy went to the next door. That didn’t work nor did the third one. Percy’s mouth twisted. He hoped his luck held (he hoped no one noticed he was trying to open the door to their apartment) and it would please extend to remembering just which door he had come out of this morning.

The doorknob to the fourth door moved completely under his left hand. With a creak the door opened and there was no one in the hallway or what little of what Percy could see of the rest of the apartment. Percy went and fetched his bag of food before entering the apartment. Softly he closed the door even though the creaking from the movement would give away his whereabouts. Because of that Percy went ahead and uncapped Riptide. Sure, there hadn’t been any yelling nor had his ears picked up any movement in the apartment but if anyone or anything was in here it could be waited to give him a false sense of security.

From the glow of the sword, light filled the hallway and casted shadows because all the windows in here had their blinds closed. Percy once more sat the to go bag down onto the floor. With his left hand he reached out to the coat rack. There was a jacket there hadn’t been there before. The fabric was slightly damped even though it hadn’t rained at all today. Percy’s mouth twisted. Had it been washed and the person was using this in place of a clothes rack or had there been someone watching him by the river? 

Percy continued to eye the coat. He even brought Riptide closer so he could have a better look at it. It was worn thing. Probably for a skinny man or for a woman to wear.  
With his left hand Percy lifted the collar from the hook it had been hung on. Despite last experience, Percy titled the collar back so he could peek at the manufacturer’s tag: yennj. None of the letters were capitalized and so Percy’s frown grew. Quickly, he put it back on the hook and moved as quietly as he could. There were still three bowls of an unfinished meal - it had rice and chopped vegetables in it - on the table. There was nothing removed or added on there or, when Percy checked over the counter, on the kitchen counters. 

Was Yennj sleeping or was had she left again? 

And - no matter which one it was - why had she left the apartment unlocked then? 

All that was left to look through was the only bedroom here and the bathroom it was connected to it. 

The door to bedroom was as Percy had left it: wide open. Percy went through the doorway. The two beds had been made earlier today but the covers of one looked as though someone had been sleeping earlier. Percy’s darted to the door to the bathroom. It too was open like it had been this morning. Since there was no one in the bedroom Percy headed to the bathroom. (He would look for clues later. He needed to know of someone was here.) It was a small thing and would have been completely dark if not for the light that came from Riptide. The sink and counter were dry - not even a few droplets splattered about - and there were three toothbrushes on a stand next to the sink. Percy raised his left hand and touched the head of each toothbrush. All of them felt dry; no one had used them recently. 

Maybe they had never been given the chance to considering the abandoned bowls of food.

What was he missing? 

Yeenj had visited the apartment since the time Percy had left it. Was she another victim of whatever happened to the three people who had been eating before something had happened? Her coat was still damp so it hadn’t been that long since she arrived and hadn’t locked the door; the coat that damp despite the fact it hadn’t rained at all today. Had she been spying on Percy when he was at the river or was there a genuine reason it was wet? 

She had left the bowls of food alone instead of doing anything about it. She had slept in one of the beds though. Did Yeenj not care about the people who had lived in this apartment or was she the reason they were gone in the first place? Where was she? Her jacket was here, she had slept here, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found in the apartment....

And how did this connect to Percy? Before waking up in this apartment Percy had been California - in the United States - and now he was some unknown city in Japan of all places. 

Percy crept out of the bathroom. He glared at the messed up bed. Well there was one place he hadn’t looked yet. When he reached it he leaned down to peek under it. It was silly thought but hey, it’s the last place you look that you finally find something. Or least Percy had heard someone say that before. 

There was nothing under the bed though. 

Before checking the other bed Percy opened the first drawer of the night stand. The wooden stray pulled out and revealed a wallet and a pair of keys. The bad feeling Percy had on whatever had happened to the original occupants of the apartment was growing. The second drawer yielded a bunch of photos. The photos were racked up on top of one another instead of just being shoved in there. Resting Riptide against the bed Percy grabbed the stack of photos. The photo on top was a picture of two woman holding each-other and in the background was the ocean. Percy shuffled it to the bottom of the pile. The next photo was family of three who were smiling at the dinner table of a restaurant; neither of the members were the one of the woman in the first photo. Percy eyes the happy family. He wondered if they were close to anybody. (If they would be remembered.) 

(Percy wondered if he had any family that were missing him, that would remember him.) 

His vision grew blurry. Percy blinked back tears. He added the photo to the bottom of the pile. The next photo was of the parents of the family who had faces bright from joy and wide smiles. They looked like they were on a date. Percy went on to the next photo. It was the kid on swing set while his father was behind him. 

Percy shuffled through all the other photos. Always one of them had a single member of the family in it expect for the first. Perhaps the women in that photo were friends? In the order he had found them in Percy put the photos back into the drawer. Next, after capping Riptide, Percy went about checking all the windows around the house. It was likely that Yennj had walked out through the front door given it was unlocked but still better to check then be wrong. 

All of them were latched shut. 

The silence was broken by a growl. Percy’s eyes fell on his stomach. It would be best to eat here than on the street. After he was done with his meal the detectives should have cleared out of the area by now. 

[\\] 

The air had grown colder but it wasn’t bad. It was honestly refreshing after being in that apartment for the length of time Percy had been in there. The moon was covered up by some clouds so it was street signs and lamps that lite the streets. There was no destination Percy had in mind despite the knowledge on the monster Dazai had mentioned earlier; yes, the tiger had been spotted around warehouses - which surely was where the detectives had headed off towards - but Euryale had brought up Percy’s scent before. Apparently he stunk pretty bad and at one time in his past had killed their sister Medusa (who was the only one who could turn people into statues). No matter what Percy had done he never been able to cover it up: diving into trash, bathing in a river, or even shoving a car freshener in his pocket had done nothing besides make Riptide smell like strawberries and mangoes. 

So hopefully Percy’s scent would be able to draw the monster out. 

There was barely anyone on the streets by now. At the almost complete absence of people Percy couldn’t help but wonder if there had been a curfew out in place for city yet. Neither Dazai or Kunikida had mentioned one though...

As Percy strolled through the city he eyed the bright signs. The words on them looked English. Of course reading for Percy meant he got the letters mixed up in his mind. Apparently, that was a common occurrence for demi-gods. The next sign Percy saw was of a woman smiling. Her face was bright and unblemished. Probably advertisement for some brand of make up. 

What made this city so important to someone to make them kidnap Percy here? And was the reason connected to either Percy’s invulnerability or how the Gorgons kept coming back to life? 

As Percy walked further the poorer the neighborhoods grew. There was less signs. The cement had cracks about it and holes splattered about it. (Were those bullet holes?) 

The day was almost over. He still hadn’t been attacked. 

Maybe he needed to wait in one area instead of- 

A scream tore through the air. It, the young voice, was close. Percy realized as his heart started to go in overdrive. Without any thought Percy’s hand slipped into his pocket as he began to ran in the direction he thought the voice was. The world around him began to blur as he took off further down the sidewalk and then into an alley. 

The smell of blood was thick. As Percy breathed in air the taste of metal filled his mouth. His eyes scanned the alley way - someone must have lost a lot of blood, possibly too much of it - but his sight was partially blocked by a tall figure. Despite the situation Percy couldn’t help but wonder what was up with that hair cut: the bottom portion of the man’s hair was shaved while the rest of it was overgrown. No human in their right mind would choose to have their hair cut that way. 

A horrible crunch filled the alley way. The moon was uncovered by clouds by now so there was some light to see with but not enough to make out just what the monster before him was eating. Percy still had a pretty good idea though. 

Pained groans - it was the voice that screamed earlier - spilled out but Percy couldn’t see past the monster who had its back to him. 

“Don’t do that!” Trilled the monster before him. The words at first were a bit hard to make out because the monster had been speaking with its mouth full. “You’re no fun in that form!” Even though Percy couldn’t see the monster’s face he knew a pout would have twisted its human features. “...Though I suppose,” it was then that the voice dropped to a darker tone that didn’t bode well for anyone, “this is what makes you able to give me more to eat. Don’t you want to share with me, Atsushi?! Are you as cruel as this man? Are you going to make me starve like he did to you just because you were different?” A pause and then, “What about you, Perseus?” It was then that monster in the form of a man with a horrible hair cut turned around to face Percy. 

Percy uncapped Riptide. A soft glow filled the alley way that before only had the full moon for light. The monster wore a simple white piece of clothing. From the looks of it the outfit was a single, long piece of clothing instead of several items. The white clothing stopped midway of its neck and when it came to its sleeves the clothing was long sleeved. 

The monster tilted its head, apathetic to the crying and groaning that went on behind it. Thick eyebrows knitted together as the monster stared at Percy. There was blood smeared across its face - a messy eater or, Percy realized suddenly, it hadn’t had anything to eat in some time. If it was the latter then how many monsters were in this city? 

The monster’s expression smoothed over before something akin to pity played across its features. Really, Percy thought with deadpan, you should try to clean your face off before trying to manipulate me. Percy leaned his weight on his toes, ready to dart forward to slash as the monster’s feet before darting out of the way only the action was halted by what the monster said next. 

“Someone took your memories,” the monster admitted in a low voice, it’s eyes unwavering as it looked upon Percy. “Your mind is mess,” was giggled out as if the monster was amused by this, “but I haven’t done it though. Oh-“ The monster’s sentence came to a stop as it’s stomach was slashed into. Percy’s eyes widened as he realized it was claws that was embedded into the skin of the monster before him. 

The monster’s eyes widened before it let out a mere disappointed tut. “ You’re so cruel! Naughty tiger. I’m trying to eat, Atsushi. I’m just trying to eat and you’re hurting me for something as simple as that. I’m going to have put you in a cage! I’ll take care of you though,” the monster promised with a light tone of voice. Something cold ran through Percy at those words. “I’ll keep you unlike the Headmaster. I’ll feed you too because you’ll feed me over and over and over again. Won’t that be better? Won’t you be mine, Atsushi? We could be a circus together-“

Percy swung Riptide at the head of the monster- 

“What?” That was Percy’s voice. He had said the thought out loud.

How had Riptide gone through him without harming it 

“You two are such cruel boys!” Wailed the monster - it had to be a monster but how come Riptide hadn’t worked on it? A smile broke out on the monster’s face and it revealed too many teeth jotting out of its mouth. Rows upon rows of them were revealed. The main rows of the front and bottom set of teeth were the longest. “But I can play cruelly too,” cooed the monster. Despite the wound the monster lunged forward. It fell upon Percy and the smell of blood was overwhelming. The monster’s weight was a heavy thing despite the skinny frame of the form it took. “I’ll just have to keep biting you until I find the area it’s sticks! Oh what a wonderful meal you’ll make. The ones that fight the most are such wonderful meals.” 

The weight grew as something large - something snarling - slammed into the monster. It was that that finally broke Percy’s grip on his sword. His fingers twitched, he tried reaching out for it- 

Percy’s eyes widened. That was a tiger. An actually tiger. 

A crunch filled Percy’s ears as the snarling animal dug it’s teeth in the shoulder of the monster and dragged it off of Percy. The animal began to jerk the monster about like it was a chew toy. 

The smell of blood was threatening to drown out any other smell in the alley. Percy reached out for the handle of Riptide. His fingers wrapped around it before Percy got off of the ground to go help that tiger. Did monsters eat animals too instead of just demi-gods and mortals? Percy had seen birds and pets (mostly dogs but there had been a few cats) react to monsters like the Mist didn’t effect them but he had never thought that- 

“Doppo Poet: gun!” The yell made by a familiar voice was followed by bang. Startled the tiger let go of the monster and jumped back. The monster fell to the ground only to start jerking. It’s form began to change - it’s features filled out to a thicker body that was still a human’s form instead of its own. It’s hair changed to the color of the blood that earlier had been staining its face. A bit of stubble grew on its chin. 

“Dazai,” the monster called, narrowing its attention on that single detective of the two that had shown up. (Why were they here? They should have been searching warehouses unless- they had followed him, hadn’t they?) “You’re late again. You’re always too late. They’re going to kill me and you - you couldn’t keep your word.” 

Percy’s eyes went to the man being spoken to. It was like someone had shut and nailed down any emotions that could have made its way on Dazai’s face. There was only a horrible void, an emptiness, depicted on Dazai’s features. 

“- the side that saves people. Save the weak and the orphans. That’s what I asked of you. And look at what you did. You left them. You abandoned Akutagawa and Gin. You truly think Mori won’t let them die if it serves him? My kids, Dazai. He-“ 

A bandaged hand was lifted. 

BANG. 

There were no more words from the monster.


	4. The golden ticket question is: does your sword have ink?

BANG. 

Genuine surprised blossomed across its’ stubble face. Shoulder clothed in a pale yellow coat curved forward from being shot. It began to stumble back, crying out words to Dazai that made no sense to Percy besides the intent to verbally slide a knife into skin before twisting the weapon, further opening the wound.

With the light that came off of Riptide Percy watched blood surface from the entry wound and well up. It began to slid off of changing skin instead of the monster bursting into dust. This time the transformation was without any jerking and more akin to something being dissolved. The form - the human form, it was human because this wasn’t how monsters died - was scrawny build compared to the form it had taken only minutes ago. The hair color was more pepper than salt, its chin was one that jutted out and demanded attention, and lines of age adorned its face that was paler than either of the forms it had taken.

Percy breathed in as his heart beat grew. The air still smelled of blood and did nothing to calm him down. “It was human.” It took a moment for Percy to realize the voice he had heard was his own. 

“It was a human?” Kunikida repeated, disbelief was thick in voice. “What else were you expecting?!” The last sentence had risen in volume compared to the first.

Either this was a long game of a trap or the Armed Detective Agency was made out of mortals because otherwise they would know of gods and monsters. 

A low growl filled the alley way. Percy’s eyes darted to the tiger whose fearsome features were twisted in anger. How had he forgotten about the tiger? Was it a normal tiger or a monster? Or, Percy realized, was the tiger something like Lupa. It had after all saved Percy from the mo- the man. It had saved Percy from the man who had been attacking both of them. If it was a monster was it truly in the wrong to defend itself? The man had been bragging about eating it again and again. It couldn’t be a normal tiger then. The question was it like the She Wolf or- 

A lean figure darted forward. Dazai had his hands - and the gun he had used earlier, Percy could see the handle peaking out of right pocket- in his pockets as he moved forward. The end of the trench coat fluttered at the movement. 

Percy scrambled up from the ground. He went to grab the hilt of Riptide only for Kunikida to bark out, “Put the sword down, kid!” 

It wasn’t the order itself that made Percy’s fingers halt less than inch away from grabbing his sword. It was what Kunikida had called his weapon that left Percy surprised. So he could see through the Mist. Then why had he been surprised by Percy calling the man - the demi-god - a monster? 

Seriously what was going on in this city?

A snarl filled the alley way. Percy’s head jerked to the direction of the sound. There wasn’t a lot of room in the alley way to begin with and three people plus a tiger certainly decreased what little room there had been. There still was enough room for the tiger to lift up its massive paw and swipe at the air between it and Dazai as though to warm the detective to not come any closer. Dazai jerked backwards, narrowly missing the claws that would have easily torn open his stomach leaving him to bleed to death in the alley way. The tiger growled, lips parting to show teeth. The animal was trying to scare them and honestly considering the man had been eating it earlier - possibly not the first time the man had ripped off a limb considering his words - Percy couldn’t blame it. Of every human in this alley way Percy knew what it was like to be hunted down and to have something - or someone in the tiger’s case - want to devour you. It hadn’t just been the Gorgon sisters who Percy had ran into during his travels. 

Once more Dazai darted forward. He was rather nimble for a potential mortal. Why are you getting close, Percy wondered. You have a gun. It’s a long range weapon. You would be safer shooting from a bit of distance rather than further up close. Well, Percy amended, unless you’re a lousy shot. Somehow Percy doubted that. They were detective after all. Though Dazai could be new to the job? 

Dazai lifted a hand from his pocket. It was empty, no fingers wrapped around any weapon. Percy watched, refusing to blink for even a second. Now was a moment of truth. He might not find out if the detective was a demi-god or a monster but he would know if Dazai was a mortal. He probably wasn’t considering his partner - a co-worker at some detective agencies that had been described as gifted earlier - could see Riptide by its true form but still this whole day had been weird. Percy would take whatever evidence he could get and just trying and figure things out...hopefully. 

Outreaching figures connected to fur. A blue light began to appear in the air around Dazai’s fingers. It grew brighter than the glow Riptide gave off as it encircled Dazai and the tiger. 

Okay, Percy thought, Dazai was definitely not a human.

The light grew brighter and looking at Dazai began to make pain flair up in his eyes. Percy’s eyes darted at somewhere else - any where else - in the alley for a few seconds as a reprieve before he glanced back at Dazai. The tiger’s form that previously had been engulfed in the light was revealed. It was no longer a tiger but rather a smaller form. A teenage boy in fact. The teenager’s eyes were closed as he fell to the side. 

There was no sharp intake of breathe or any declarations of surprise from the two men. They had been expecting this then. 

The blue light faded into itself until there simply no more of it to be found in the air. Still Percy had the light of the moon and the glow that came off of Riptide to look over the tiger’s new form. The teenager needed a normal haircut was Percy’s first thought before his eyes fell on its - his? - face. The circles under the teenager’s closed eyes from lack of sleep could give Percy’s own a run for their money. And that said something. The Gorgons had no problem attacking Percy as he slept. They hoped to stumble across some weakness of his invulnerability that way and, so, Percy never got to sleep for that long. He slept handful or less than handful hours per day depending how much distance he had put between himself and the Gorgon Sisters. So, yeah, it wasn’t a good thing that the teenager was physical showing signs that his - its? - lack of sleep could give Percy’s own lack of sleep a run for its money. 

After studying the transformed tiger’s face Percy’s eyes dropped further down. His mouth twisted at the sight of torn clothes. Apparently, the similarity between the two of them wasn’t going to stop at not getting enough sleep. The clothes - or, rather, what was left of the clothes were mostly grey. Mostly being the key word. Some parts of the clothing were red. Two shades of red in fact. Percy didn’t need to get close to the teenager to know the red was either dried blood or fresh blood. He could still remember the crunching noise the man or demi-god had made earlier as he had eaten something. That, the smell of blood that had been in the alley way even before the tiger had gotten a swipe at the man, and then the man’s words from earlier were all reasons why Percy knew without a shadow of doubt the transformed tiger had been bleeding. 

Percy’s eyes once more darted between parts of the teenager’s body. 

Feed me again and again; the lack of injuries despite the blood. 

It wasn’t invulnerable like Percy despite their similarities, but the tiger could heal from its wounds. 

“Well,” Dazai chirped out before turning around to face Kunikida and Percy, “this was not how I imagined the night going.” There was a smile on his face. It was too wide to believed as something to show his ‘happiness.’ Now if you thought of the smile being like an animal’s smile - a threat by showing ones teeth instead of showing ones joy - than that would be more believable. Dazai’s eyes landed on something beyond Percy. “I’m fine, Kunikida.” Dazai said, you know, like a liar before his eyes flickered to something else beyond Percy. 

“Bullshit,” retorted a new voice, it was a woman’s voice that was sharp in rebuke. Percy’s head twisted to the direction of sound. There were three people next to Kunikida and they, with the blonde pony tailed man, blocked the exit out of the alley way. When had they shown up? He hadn’t heard them- 

“I don’t need to be Ranpo to know that,” continued the young woman, “None of us need to be Ranpo to see that.” She too was a brunette. The length of her hair was cut to her jaw excluding the bangs on her forehead. There was a large golden colored butterfly pen on the side of her hair. She was fashionably covered head to toe in articles of clothing: a white dress shirt that ended at her elbows, a knee length skirt, a thing of leggings, and last but not least a pair of black gloves. Besides her face and neck the only patches of skin that was exposed was between the small space between the sleeves of her shirt and where her gloves began. 

“Was anyone going to tell me today was No-One-Gives-Dazai-A-Break-Day?” Dazai cried out like a child. Once more Percy’s head quickly snapped to the other side to look at Dazai. The brunette detective’s head was lolled to the side. He hadn’t moved closer to the transformed tiger or to Percy. But he could do so - quickly do so in fact - if he wanted to. He didn’t want to. Or, more likely, he was waiting on doing so. Why though? He likely could see Riptide- 

“Dazai,” Kunikida said, finally including himself into the conversation. “You-“ he was interrupted. 

“Can I come closer?” A young voice asked. Percy jolted his head back to the group of detectives - the three of them had to be co-workers too, they seemed way too familiar to not be - so he could find the person who spoke up. His eyes landed on the teenager just as said teenager added, “You look like a spooked cow so that’s why I asked.” Percy didn’t remember his past but he was pretty sure he had never been compared to a cow before. Why? Because being compared to a cow was a weird occurrence. 

The blonde teenager looked younger than both Percy and the appearance the transformed tiger had taken. He had golden eyes and a weird hair cut. He wore a pair of overalls that had folded so they wouldn’t go any further than his knees. Under the overalls he wore two shirts. The sleeves of the one of the shirt were torn- 

As the teenager waited for a response from Percy he looked to Dazai. “Would you like a cup of tea when we get back to the office?” He offered before asking, “Or are you going to a city bar with Kunikida after we’re done?” 

...City bar? 

A throat cleared. “I am afraid this day continues to go off from my schedule. We’ll probably be working overnight.” 

The sound of a pair of heels filled the alleyway as the lady walked towards Percy, Dazai, and the corpse. Unlike the teenager she didn’t ask for permission to come forward. Percy leaned his weight onto his toes, ready to try to make a run for it even if the only exit was blocked. He didn’t need to worry about wasting time grabbing Riptide and thus spooking the detectives. It would faithfully reappear in his pocket as it has always done. (That sword was one of the few constant things Percy had in life.) That said, if he needed to fight with them...would Riptide even work on them? 

Purple eyes met his. A single eyebrow was raised as though she was well aware of how wary Percy was and this was her way of acknowledging it, her way of saying 'so what are you going to do about it?' It was in that moment the woman reminded Percy of Lupa. 

If he tried to run he would be seen as both prey and as someone who was guilty. If Percy stayed he would seen as someone who didn't back down any ground and someone who didn't have anything to hide. 

Percy simply nodded his head at her. 

She kept walking forward until she reached the corpse. She began to kneel, uncaring that her skirt pooled at the ground. Either she generally didn't care about her clothes (she had money to be reckless in caring for them) or she was use to dirtying them up because that was a cost of her job. Purple eyes inspected the body for a minute. "Well this case just became a lot more complicated." Despite her words she didn’t snap at Dazai for the headshot. 

“Someone call a taxi. Ranpo -“ Percy's eyes flickered to the teenager and young man who had his eyes closed, waiting for a reaction from one them. Unlike his three other adult companions, the young man had no sense of fashion what so ever. But, you know, if that was what he wanted to wear - if that was something he was comfortable in - than good for him. 

“I lost my cellphone earlier,” Dazai informed the odd group so they knew he wasn’t going to able to do what Yosano ordered. 

It was then that Percy spoke up. “I don’t have a cellphone either.” 

"You don't have a cellphone?" Kunikida repeated as though Percy said something like 'oh I dyed my hair green' when you could very clearly see his dark hair color. Several moments passed and then Kunikida added, "Yes, of course, clearly the space needed to carrying a sword that can transform into pen was more important than a device that allows you call your parent, the police, or the number to our office that I gave you."

“Kunikida,” Dazai trilled before changing the tone of his voice, “there’s no point for Percy to carry around a phone if he can’t use the wifi hotspot.” 

Apparently that comment made some sense to Kunikida. His mouth thinned only to part a few seconds later. “If he’s a student he should have prepaid sim,” Kunikida said like Percy wasn’t right there.

It was the young man who had his eyes closed that walked to Yosano and the corpse. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket. 

Somehow Kunikida's glare grew more agitated. "What were you even doing leave the apartment building?” He demanded. "Saving a man from drowning is one thing but going out to hunt for a tiger is another. Playing as some kind of hero will get you killed - ability or no ability. You have no training in cases like this. You should be-" 

Anger flared up in Percy. He didn’t ask for this. He didn’t ask for any of this. Not the memory lost, not being hunted down like an animal, or being teleported to another country for some reason. “I'm not some stupid kid looking to be a hero." Kunikida should know why Percy was doing this. He could see Riptide. He likely had a power from his godly parent- did he? Were the Japanese gods real like the Roman's deities? Or were these people children of Greek gods? The Roman gods had moved from Italy to United States so what was to stop them from occasionally popping into Japan and having a kid? Assuming it was the latter theory than it was likely that Monsters frequent United States more than Japan because there were more demi-gods to hunt...and that would explain why these people could see through the Mist but didn't understand why Percy had used the word monster earlier. 

A blonde eyebrow was raised. "Do you know what would happen if you died? We would have to visit your parents and tell them you had died and if we weren't the ones to find you would be in a morgue - if there was anything of you left - for days leaving them to worry for your safety only to learn the worst had in fact occurred.” 

Not for the first time Percy wondered if he had a mortal parent and, if he did, if he had a family besides a mortal parent. Did they miss him? How long had his disappearance been for them? Did he have friends who were worried sick about him or was he- it wasn’t important. It was, it just wasn’t important right now. He could wonder about that later. 

Ranpo - he had to be Ranpo - was speaking too softly to the lady for Percy to catch what he was saying. 

“W-What’s going on?” An unfamiliar voice asked. It took a second to realize who it was: the tiger. Percy turned around to face Dazai and the transformed tiger. 

“You didn’t kill anyone!” Crowed an unfamiliar voice from behind Percy. That, Percy realized, had to be Ranpo speaking. “Besides that, we’ll need to make a stop before going to the office. I deserve some Kinoko no yama.” 

The tiger blanched. “D-Didn’t kill anyone?” The mere idea of having killing someone made the tiger stutter. It didn’t look like an act. Okay, Percy thought as the day kept getting stranger, the tiger was either a monster that didn’t kill for fun (this was assuming he wasn’t acting rather well) or it - he? - was a demi-god who inherited the ability to transform into an animal. “I wouldn’t-“ 

“Oh,” Ranpo added, “and the man who has been hunting you down and eating your limbs is dead so-“ 

Somehow Atsushi managed to grow even more pale. Percy turned around to face Ranpo and the others. “Dude,” Percy interjected before the tiger ending up fainting from shock or fear, “shut up. You’re not helping. You’re making things wo-“ 

A thud filled the alley way. Percy didn’t need to look to know the tiger fainted. Percy glared at the young man who was wearing the pair of glasses he had fished out from his pocket. ‘See?’ Percy hoped his look conveyed, ‘You gave a traumatized tiger so much anxiety it fainted.’ 

Ranpo didn’t at all look abashed. No, his eyes only narrowed at Percy. 

Percy felt like sighing; somehow he knew this day would continue in being strange. 

Let tomorrow be kinder, Percy thought. Please...Did he need to pray to not have weird crap happen to him? 

Because at this point Percy was about ready to do just that. 

Instead of making a comment Ranpo merely pulled out a box of candy from his pocket. He began to eat despite being at a crime scene. 

“Ranpo,” Dazai called with a voice too sweet.

Ranpo raised an eyebrow at Dazai. He grabbed another stick of candy before breaking a part of it with his teeth. 

It was Dazai who spoke next. “You’re not going to be any help are you?” There was a glum tone to his voice. Percy wondered how far he could trust any tone Dazai used. 

“I don’t suppose anyone would escort me?” Ranpo asked his co-workers. 

Looks were exchanged. 

“I need to perform a gastric lavage so I can’t.” Yosano informed Ranpo. Her skirt was no longer brushing the ground because she was standing up now. Her lips were thin and her eyes continued to stay on the corpse below her. 

It was Kunikida who spoke up next. He sounded tired. “As much help as you are someone needs to make sure the paperwork gets handled.” A look was shot at both Dazai and Ranpo who apparently were guilty at not helping out on just that. “I will also need to get in contact with your parents, Percy.” It was then that Kunikida’s glare was turned onto him. 

Percy didn’t look at the blocked exit - he didn’t give away that tell, the desire to remove himself from the situation - but it came to the forefront of his mind. 

Play along and then when he was able to he would get away. Or, Percy amended, he would have a better idea on just what was going on with this Armed Detective Agency.

“Mom is probably tired,” Percy lied, “She took on a job while we’re here so we could-“ 

“Oh,” Dazai said, “so she has a Zairyu Card then?” It sounded more of a question than something he had observed and chosen to voice. 

Percy brought his shoulders up to shrug. “I guess? I didn’t really pay attention to all the details. If she mentioned it I forgot.” 

Ranpo made a sound like a laugh had been barely muffled. Percy shot him a confused look. The sound grew and the cloak on Ranpo’s shoulders shook from barely restrained laughter. 

Percy’s eyebrows knitted together. What was so funny? 

“Ranpo,” Dazai repeated calling Ranpo only by his name. There was an unvoiced demand there in his voice. 

“You’ll get it later,” was the answer Ranpo gifted Dazai instead of ignoring him like early. 

The reply didn’t seem to make anyone happy or surprise them. ...Was this just normal? 

“Enough,” the woman’s voice cut into the conversation. A moment and then, “Would Kenji be good enough, Ranpo? If so then do what you need to. If not, you’ll have to wait until one of us is available.” It was then that the woman looked directly at him. “You can come with us actually. I can look over any of your injuries when we get to the office.” 

“I-“ Percy began. 

“I’m the Armed Detective Agency’s doctor,” the woman informed him, “I can’t let a person - a teenager none the less - that was involved in one of our cases be injured and left untreated.” A moment and then the believed carrot put before the unwilling donkey, “Your mom will probably take it better if you’ve been treated when she hears the news.” 

“I didn’t get injured.” After a second Percy elaborated, “The tiger attacked the man before he could do anything.” 

An eyebrow was raised and disappeared under the woman’s bangs. (Percy wondered how many times her co-workers had lied about not being injured.) “I’ll be the judge of whether or not you’re injured.” 

Footsteps from behind Percy filled the alleyway. When Dazai reached Percy he didn’t step any further. No, he leaned down and a hand reached out to grab the handle of Riptide. Percy eyed Dazai, his weight still on his toes should he need to dart out of the way. (Riptide would reappear. It always reappeared. He shouldn’t be nervous at someone holding the weapon.) 

“Someone besides Dazai bring up the car,” the woman ordered. “Kenji and Ranpo can take the taxi.” 

Dazai’s head tilted as he studied Percy’s sword. Lips parted so a grin could appear on Dazai’s face that was bathed from the glow of Riptide. “Does this thing even have any ink?” 

It was several moments before Percy answered. (So Dazai knew it was his pen. That answered how long they had been watching Percy.) “I don’t know.” It was an honest answer. One of the few honest answers Percy had given tonight. 

“You should find out. Who knows it might save your life one day.” 

There wasn’t a single guess Percy could make on why Riptide having ink could save his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the Mist effecting the ADA or is that supposed man an actual man? You’ll have to wait and find out. ;) 
> 
> If you’re wondering oh, why is it that Percy is caring to Dazai but isn’t asking for help? There’s a difference between you being kind to someone you met and having to trust someone else to be kind to you. One is something you are giving - something you are in control of - while the other is something another person could do to you. Percy is also really confused on just what is going on in this city. 
> 
> Also what are your thoughts on the ADA members? Both for how I wrote them overall (Did any of them come off as occ?) and what your predictions are if you want to leave a comment.


	5. Percy, Percy. Handclap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: past cannibalism. Not graphically talked about but alluded to and then actually mentioned once.

It was only the sound of typing that filled the vehicle. It was Kunikida’s phone that lit up Dazai’s face as he texted someone since Kunikida himself was unable to. Apparently, Dazai was never allowed to drive. As in the man’s driving skills were so bad that he hadn’t been allowed to even bring the car up earlier. It had been Kunikida who had done so then and as of now was driving them to the office. It was only Kunikida who was in the front of the car. There was no one in the front passenger seat. The lady - Percy really needed to ask what her name was - was in the back of the car with the corpse while Dazai sat between the transformed tiger and Percy. 

Percy’s eyes looked away from Dazai to the front of the car. Kunikida’s grip on the steering wheel was so hard that his knuckles had grown. Still the detective didn’t disclose whatever was bothering him. Percy wondered if it wasn’t for him and the tiger being in the car- 

With a click, the light at the side of his eye disappeared; Dazai had finally turned off the phone. Percy’s eyes flickered back to focus on the man seated next to him as the detective slipped the phone into one of his pockets before raising both his bandages arms until his fingers brushed the roof of the car. For a few seconds Dazai lingered in the stretch before lowering his arms. Dazai opened his mouth and silently yawned. He didn’t bother to cover his mouth with a hand. 

“Kunikida,” Dazai called out, “will you make a pot of coffee when we get to the office?”

Grey eyes flickered from the road to the rear view mirror. Kunikida didn’t look at Dazai’s reflection for long. “You can go downstairs to order a cup, Dazai.” There was a warning in Kunikida’s tone that should have told Dazai to not needle any further. 

Downstairs to order a cup? So that meant there was a coffee shop or some backery that sold coffee that was below the office. The Armed Detective Agency wasn’t a one story building then. 

Apparently, Dazai didn’t care to listen to it. “None of the staff will let me until I pay off some of my tab.” 

Light filled the car as they passed by a street lamp. Percy could see the sea from here. 

“And how,” Kunikida said with a voice that was growing in volume the more he spoke, “is that my problem? Bad decisions have consequences, Dazai. I’ve told you this a million times.” 

Dazai tilted his head. “Oh, but I figured you would have worked out a schedule on how this evening will go by now even if you haven’t been given a chance to put it to paper yet. You are so obsessive about those lists-“ 

“They help me focus on the things I need to accomplish,” was the curt response Kunikida gave as he interrupted his partner. 

Dazai’s eyes widened dramatically. “Do you mean to say that you wouldn’t be such a workaholic if I-“ 

...How were these two functioning partners again? 

“I will throw out the stash of canned crab you keep in the office if you even think about touching my Ideal,” Kunikida swiftly threatened. 

Somehow Dazai’s eyes grew larger. “I knew you were cruel but this-“ it was then that Percy tuned out of the conversation. He looked down at himself or, rather to be more accurate, at his clothes. It was a pair of shorts and an orange shirt the Percy wore. They, along with the bead necklace, had been what Percy had woken up in the Wolf House which was as far as Percy’s memory went. And so Percy had not stolen any clothes to replace them no matter how damaged they became or how much attention they attracted because of the state the clothes were in. 

Percy slipped his hands into his pockets. The card Kunikida had given him brushed against his hand as his fingers wrapped around Riptide. It had returned to him earlier. If Percy was ever put in a position where he couldn’t retrieve it the pen always returned to him after so long. When they reached the Armed Detective Agency Riptide would just be enough thing they would likely talk about before Percy got away since Dazai had put the weapon in the back of the car where Yosano and the corpse were at. 

Uniquely gifted investigators had been Kunikida’s own words at describing where he worked but then he had been surprised at how Percy had used the word monsters earlier....When it came to the Armed Detective Agency Dazai at least wasn’t a human. 

Not for the first time that night Percy wondered just what he landed himself into. Say, besides Dazai, they were mortals what then? The answer was simple: he needed to get out of dodge. Even if the Mist didn’t negatively effect their memories of him Percy was a stranger in a country he shouldn’t be in. He had no passport or that card Dazai mentioned earlier. He wasn’t here legally and thus they would have to contact the proper authorities about Percy and his situation. What would happen then? Percy was a teenager with no family. Would he just be sent back to United States or would he be placed in an orphanage? ...Would it be better that way? To just let himself be deported back to his home country instead of trying to find a way back to the United States by himself. Again he didn’t have any money or identification needed to get out of the country. So Percy’s options would be stowing away, making a deal with someone who owned some form of transportation, or finding out whoever did this and somehow making them return him back to his country. ....Or would whoever had sent him here further interfere if he tried to leave this city? 

The thought of someone - the person behind this - watching him as he tried to adapt to the situation that he had been tossed made the hairs on the back of Percy’s neck stand up. He had found no real leads in that apartment as to why he had woken up there of all places. The only thing that had stood out was the wet coat that hadn’t been there before and the three bowls of food that had been left on the table since this morning... 

It hadn’t rained at all today so that coat being wet likely meant someone had followed Percy to the river he had met Dazai at. 

The car began to slow down. Percy’s eyes flickered to Kunikida as his hands turned the steeling wheel to the left. The speed didn’t pick back up after the man made the turn. They probably were about to arrive then. 

“Yosano wants to treat you before she has to perform gastric suction,” Dazai informed him as Kunikida moved the car brake stick upwards; Dazai hadn’t touched the phone again despite delivering this news. 

(Yosano. So that was the doctor’s name.) Percy finally asked something he had wondered earlier. “What’s a gastric suction?” 

“It’s when a doctor pumps the stomach of a person.” 

Percy gave a hum at that instead of asking like cpr. 

A click suddenly filled the car. “You can go ahead and step out. Yosano is waiting for you. Kunikida and I will be inside in a few minutes,” Dazai told him. 

Percy eyed the transformed tiger before his eyes flickered back to the man who sat between them. He unbuckled his seatbelt before reaching for the door handle. The sight of a brick building with a good many windows greeted Percy when he stepped out of the car. Percy could smell the sea from here and despite everything that was going on the scent had a calming effect. Kunikida had parked at the curb and so- 

“Percy, was it?” It was Yosano that asked the inquiry, her voice coming from behind him. Percy turned around to face her just in time to see her incline her head to the red brick building. “Come on, hand clap.” 

“Hand clap?” Percy repeated, feeling bemused. 

The only sound that filled the air was Yosano’s heals as she stepped off of the curb. Percy followed after her. It wasn’t till they reached they climbed the steps to entrance of the building that Yosano’s gloved hand reached into her skirt and fished out a pair of keys. She made quick work of opening the door. It creaked at the movement. 

“Do you have any past history of allergic reactions to any medication?” Yosano asked as she made her way through the door. The light was already on so she didn’t need to switch it on. 

“None that I know of,” Percy admitted and it was an honest answer. He followed after her as she headed to the stairs. There was no question made about Riptide despite the minutes that passed by. 

Percy began to open his mouth only to be interrupted by another medical question. “Have you signed up for National Health Insurance?” 

Insurance shouldn’t apply for tourist right? “No, I haven’t.” 

“Do you have a primary doctor? It doesn’t matter if they’re in the U.S.,” Yosano admitted. She was ahead of him as they climbed another floor of stairs. Her breath wasn’t heavy despite the several floors they had already climbed. She, like him, was use to walking long distances then. 

“No, not really,” Percy admitted even though he didn’t know if that was true or not. He lifted up his shoulders to shrug despite Yosano having her back to him. (Did Yosano trust him or did she think he wasn’t a threat?) “Medical bills are expensive in the U.S.,” Percy added after a second. 

Yosano gave a hum at his reply. Another door came into view and this time Yosano didn’t pass it by in favor of walking up another set of stairs. When Yosano opened the door the first thing that Percy noticed about the office was that the floor was green. 

“Do you know if either of your parents have had allergic reactions to medication?” 

Was it normal for a doctor to ask this many questions? Or was this because she worked at Armed Detective Agency and was trying to- 

“I’m asking because allergies often run in the family,” Yosano explained as though she could read his mind. 

Once again Percy answered that he didn’t know. Yosano twisted a door handle and stepped inside another room. It took a few seconds before light turned on and flooded the room. It, the room, was a doctor’s office - Yosano’s office. 

Percy’s eyes scanned the room as he stepped inside of it. There was no window but there was 

“Go take a seat,” Yosano ordered as began to make her way to a desk. A moment and then, “How old are you?” 

That was something Percy too would like to know. He didn’t pity himself despite the reminder of what he had lost though. Now wasn’t the time. What was important was the answer to that question: old enough to be adult and thus there wouldn’t be a legally need to contact his ‘mom’ or young enough to not be fully face anything illegal he might have done. 

Dazai had said he looked old enough to be a student. A student that was studying aboard had been the detective’s actually guess. So he likely more or less the college age then. (Did the Japanese attend college the same age Americans did? Was eighteen even considered the age a person became an adult in Japan?) 

“Sixteen,” Percy answered because it was close to being the age of an adult (hopefully) but not too close like seventeen was. 

The sound of high heels being walked on filled the room as Yosano made her way towards him. Her black gloves had been replaced with blue plastic gloves that reached only as far as her wrist. “Would it be okay if I touched you?” 

“What?” Percy asked and unlike his other responses the question was rather quick to come out of his mouth. Why would she ask that? No one had asked that before but then again Percy had never interacted with a doctor before.

“You were attacked earlier,” Yosano explained calmly and slowly like he was a child. “Most people don’t want strangers to be in their space after something like that. Not even doctors sometimes.” 

“I’m really am fine,” Percy told her not for the first time this night. Though, he admitted, his ruined clothes probably didn’t help in backing up his words. Despite his statement he said a moment later, “You can come closer.”

And so she did. Despite himself Percy felt his body tense up at having someone in his personal space. Since waking up in the Wolf House having something or someone this close to him never ended well. Hopefully, Percy thought, Yosano would brush it off for the very reason why she asked if she could come close.It was his neck that Yosano first inspected. Fingers curled and pulled the collar of his shirt from the left side of his neck so it could be inspected; that action made the collar dig into the right side of his neck. The touch of the plastic gloves wasn’t cold but the plastic was warm either

Yosano’s lips dipped into a frown. 

She didn’t make a move to touch the beaded necklace. 

“The tiger really did get the man off of you before he could harm you,” Yosano murmured before she released the collar of his shirt. It was then that she started to look upon the rest of his body. Despite his clothes being in the state they were there were no injuries to be found on him. Of course not. If Percy wasn’t invulnerable he would likely be long dead now. Or, he amended a second later, maybe not. His past self - the person he use to be before the loss of his memories - had survived for how many years he had lived so maybe he would have survived the Gorgon sisters unrelenting attacks too. 

Not for the first Percy wondered what he had been like before he woken up at the Wolf House. Was he different than the personality he use to have or was he close to it? If he ever found his family and friends (if he had any to begin with) would like not like him as he was now? 

“Percy,” Yosano’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. When he glanced upwards to her face there was something dangerously solemn about the expression on it. “You seem like a good kid,” she admitted before warning him, “so don’t fuck this up.” 

Percy wanted to ask just what could he screw up when there was a knock even though Percy hadn’t closed the door behind him- 

It was Dazai who stood between the door way. He smiled down at Percy like he had done something good or had passed some kind of test. The answer to just what good thing he had done clicked into place. Dazai was a demi-god. Possibly the one only in the agency. He would have noticed Riptide’s disappearance even if none of the others were able to because of the Mist interference - though maybe the others had noticed. Percy didn’t know for sure just what Dazai’s co-workers actually were- 

“A military police detective is waiting outside for you whenever you’re done, Yosano,” Dazai informed the woman before turning his attention once more back to Percy. (Didn’t Yosano have to pump the stomach of the corpse after she was done with him though?) “Could you come with me? Kunikida wants your official statement before we let you go.” A moment and then. “Unless there’s something else you need to check, Yosano.” 

Yosano’s frown grew. “No, there isn’t.” She sounded disappointed. 

“Come on then.” Dazai ordered and Percy did just that. It’s a quick walk to the room Dazai leads him to. This time Dazai doesn’t knock as he entered the room. Percy didn’t knock either as he stepped into the room that was filled with a rather long desk and some chair. Unlike the doctor’s office there’s two windows Percy can escape out of if he needs to. Unfortunately, Kunikida is sitting in front of those windows. The transformed tiger was here too. When multi-colored eyes met Percy’s they widened in recognition. 

“Percy this is Atsushi. Atsushi this is Percy. You’re both here because of you are both witnesses in our case.”

Witnesses instead of a witness and a suspect. Huh. Yes, the tige-no, Atsushi had acted surprise when the weirdly dressed detective had- 

“Atsushi, I need you to start from the beginning,” Dazai admitted, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience of having you do so but least you’ll have someone nicer asking you questions.” At these words Atsushi’s eyes widen and confusion painted itself across the transformed tiger’s features. “Kunikida can rather too enthusiastic when it comes to getting the job done so sorry if he’s been harsh.” That probably said something coming from a man whose first response was to shot the culprit in the head. Or more likely, Percy thought as he looked to Kunikida, Dazai could be just as ruthless about questioning but was better at hiding it. 

At his partner’s words Kunikida rolled his eyes but gave no retort or excuse. 

How much of these the detectives’ actions were true and how much was a front? 

“You can start now,” Dazai said, prodding the suspect to begin. He took the seat closest the door. (Dazai was near the door and Kunikida was next the windows. These two were not dumb no matter how much they acted like bickering children.) 

Eyeing the empty chairs Percy chose a seat near Kunikida. If push came to shove the window was a better option for several reasons: if he threw himself out of it he would be completely out of the building, most likely the detectives would be surprised and that time would give him a chance to put distance between them, and last but least they were unlikely to jump out after him and thus would waste time getting out of the building by taking the stairs. 

“My name is Nakajima Atsushi,” Atsushi began with down casted eyes. His shoulders grew further hunched as he continued. “Until two weeks ago I use to live at an orphanage.” 

“You’re from the orphanage?” Dazai asked as he lifted his bandaged arms onto the table and rested his chin on his hands. 

Atsushi shot Dazai another confused look. What was Percy missing here?

Was Atsushi a monster manipulating the Mist or was the transformed tiger a demi-god like Dazai and Percy were? 

“Yes,” Atsushi muttered out. “I was kicked out from it two weeks ago.” 

Two weeks ago. Was that when the disappearances started or had they happened earlier than that? 

“Sounds like a real philanthropic organization,” was the comment Dazai gave next. While Percy had no idea what philanthropic meant he was pretty sure Dazai had insulted the orphanage. 

“Why were you kicked out?” Percy spoke up for the first time since entering this room. Kunikida shot him a sharp, reprimanding look but Dazai neither said a word or gave an ugly look. 

It was a minute before Atsushi answered. “The orphanage was ransacked by a tiger.” So it was destroyed by you then, Percy thought. “It ruined our vegetable garden and ate the chickens. No one died but the orphanage was already on a tight budget.” 

Monster or demi-god. Someone who had the Mist helping them or someone who could be manipulated by the Mist. If Atsushi was a tiger then how come the people who worked at the orphanage had specifically kicked Atsushi out of there? They shouldn’t be able to figure out he was the tiger...that was of course assuming they were mortals. (But if someone who worked at the orphanage had known Atsushi was the tiger why hadn’t they killed the monster?) If he was a demi-god it made sense for mortals to blame Atsushi for things though in this case they would be right to do so. But still the Mist should have kept them from learning he was the tiger. So why hadn’t they sent him to another orphanage if there wasn’t enough money to provide for all the orphans in their care instead of just kicking Atsushi out? 

Wait. ...Just how old was Atsushi? If Atsushi was the age where he was considered an adult then would the orphanage still take care of him? 

“I had nothing to eat or a place to stay. And t-the tiger followed me to the city.” At these words Atsushi’s thin shoulder’s began to shook. 

Dazai lifted his chin from where it had been resting on the knuckles of his hands before slipping a hand into the pocket of his trench coat. It was the phone from earlier that Dazai pulled out and began to type on. After a minute Dazai turned his hand around to show Atsushi something on the screen. “Do you recognize this man?” 

Percy wondered if the photo was of the corpse - of the man with a bullet in his head instead of anywhere else Dazai could have shot at - or somehow of the man when he had been alive. 

The fear that had twisted the features on Atsushi’s face grew more prominent. “He said his name was Bachman Richard.” 

“He said?” Kunikida repeated, speaking up finally. 

“...I don’t believe him.” Atsushi’s voice had dropped in volume. In this moment he looked like a kid expecting to be called a liar or something else horrible for having said that. The sight made Percy’s stomach twist up despite not knowing just what Atsushi was. 

“Why not?” Dazai questioned softly. 

Atsushi’s eyes fell to his lap and there they stayed. “When we met he asked for my help.” 

Help for what? 

“He said he had been on a busy trip with his wife but something bad happened,” Atsushi began to explain without any prodding, “His wife hadn’t shown up to the hotel last night after she had finished shopping.“ 

“He asked for your help instead of going to the military police or even hiring a detective. Why?” Kunikida asked, his eyes boring into the transformed tiger. 

“He said something about there having to be so many hours passed before a person can be declared a missing person. So he was searching on his own...only he was willing to hire people to help look for her.” 

The dread Percy began to feel felt as though it was an actual person that placed its arms on Percy’s shoulders and began to lean its weight onto him. The weight, the feeling, grew as Percy recalled just what the man had been spouting in the alley way. 

“And you took the offer.” There was nothing patronizing about Dazai’s tone when he spoke nor was there anything to be found in his voice that suggested he thought Atsushi had been stupid. 

“I was hungry,” Atsushi admitted in a voice thick with emotion. “I was so hungry.” 

“You were trying to do whatever you could to survive,” Dazai voiced his thoughts. “You weren’t a fool.” 

“I was,” Atsushi argued with eyes still downcast. 

“You were just trying to make the best out of a desperate situation.” Dazai countered back. A moment and then, “Do you recall if Bachman hired anyone else?” 

White strands of hair swayed as Atsushi shook his head. “There might have been but I don’t know for sure.” 

Silence filled the room for a minute before Dazai had enough. “Atsushi there could be other victims. I need you to tell me what you remember.” Gone was the soft tone Dazai had used, in its place was a voice that demanded the listener’s attention. 

“If I didn’t find her in the areas he asked me to check then I was suppose to show up at his hotel and confirm that she wasn’t there. He said he would pay for the day’s work and give me a list of locations to check tomorrow.” There was a pause before Atsushi continued. “He could be whimsical at times when he wasn’t afraid for his wife but when I showed up at the hotel... I excused the way he locked the door behind us. I thought fear for his wife was making him paranoid but,” Atsushi’s hair once more began to sway as he turned his head side to side, “I was wrong. He suggested I stay there at the hotel so if the people who had taken his wife wouldn’t get to me too.” 

Percy’s hand slipped into his pocket. He didn’t think he was going to be attacked but rather wanted the comfort that Riptide brought him. His fingers curled around the pen as Atsushi continued. “He acted weird during dinner but it wasn’t until after I had ate that he grew worse. H-He said they wouldn’t mind if I was without a limb.” 

...They wouldn’t mind? 

“Atsushi.” It was Kunikida who called the transformed tiger’s name this time. 

Atsushi shook his head once more, refusing to be pushed into talking about what had occurred. 

“One of the people that are missing is a teenager by the name of Rokuzō Taguchi,” Kunikida informed Atsushi, reminding him that he wasn’t the only victim of the man. “He’s an orphan like you. He was under my care, Atsushi. I would like to find him alive than to find out he was morgue for who knows how long because he decided to play hero. That is assuming,” Kunikida admitted, “that there this anything left to be found of him.” 

Playing a hero and possibly being in the morgue... No wonder Kunikida had snapped at Percy earlier. 

“There are other victims that possibly could have survived an encounter with Bachman,” Dazai chipped in. “Do you have to understand time is-“ 

Atsushi raised his eyes. “I’m so sorry but I doubt that there are any,” he confessed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any thoughts or theories I would love to hear them!
> 
> [\\] 
> 
> 1.) If a person is vacationing to Japan and from US (from my understanding - if I’m wrong let me know) you can stay for only ninety days. You cannot do any paid work in this time however. 
> 
> 2.) If a person is staying in Japan longer than ninety days you will need a Zairyu Card; a Zairyu Card is an ID card for non Japanese residents. If you have one you will have to carry it on you at all times. If you are found out by authorities to not have it on you you will be fined or arrested. (This is the same card Dazai references in the last chapter.) 
> 
> 3.) If a person is not eligible for employment insurance than a person will by default be available to use National Health Insurance. A person with a long term visa is applicable for this health insurance. (Percy at SoN is at the age of sixteen. That said, I always figured Percy would probably look a bit older than his actually age. So that’s why they might potentially believe he might be a student.) 
> 
> 5.) One day I am going to sit down and learn about honorifics (I overall know what a honorific is the thing is I’m just not really familiar with each of their meaning tbh) and just who uses what honorific to each other in the series. Then I’ll come back to edit the previous chapters. Today is not that day because I have work and then I’ll need to write some more on my Dazai multiship exchange.
> 
> 6.) Yosano referring to Percy as handclap is a reference to the Japanese title of Percy Jackson book.
> 
> The words Pāshī Pāshī means the sound of a hand clap or light exploding (think fireworks). If I’m wrong about this or anything else please let me know if you have time!


	6. How To Test If A God Is Behind Your Kidnapping For Dummies.

“I’ve heard of the Armed Detective Agency before. I thought it was just stories,” Atsushi admitted and he hadn’t gotten back to staring at his lap (yet). “Tales of an agency specializing in cases the city police or the military can handle. I heard members of this elite agency possess super natural powers.” 

Percy eyes flickered away from Atsushi to look at Dazai and then Kunikida. If Kunikida was a demi-god like Dazai and him were just who was his parent and what was his abilities?

The name Athena popped into his head. Just why that particular goddess though Percy didn’t know. His entire life had been you know those tiny bottles of liquid white out you brushed on a spot of paper you screwed up on? That’s basically what some god or goddess had done to his memories. The question - or, rather, one of the important questions was did the god that had stolen his memories also the one who had kidnapped him? He lifted his left foot before quickly placing it back on the ground and then doing it all over again. If he was alone he might have fiddled with the beaded necklace but he wasn’t and even if he did know where the necklace came from and what the different beads meant he didn’t particularly feel like answering any questions about it. 

Talking about demi-gods...did a good bit of them actually survive long enough to adulthood? And some of those demi-gods went into government or police careers where they, along with the Mist, were covering - 

“It’s true,” Dazai spoke up, his eyes on Atsushi, “that the Armed Detective Agency is comprised of individuals with supernatural powers. Not a well known fact is that quite a few people possess supernatural abilities in this world.” 

Percy kept his eyes on Dazai. “Does anyone know where the supernatural powers come from?” 

Dazai’s eyes flickered away from Atsushi to him before they landed back on Atsushi. “Some people use their abilities to achieve great success. While others fall into ruin unable to control their powers. Others can live years of their life not even knowing of their power.” A moment and then, “It took being attacked by ‘Bachman Richard’ for you start to figure out just what the those who worked at orphanage had already realized. You’re the very tiger that ransacked the vegetable garden and ate the chickens the orphanage was raising for eggs.” 

Just how hungry had Atsushi been at the orphanage? A predator eating chickens - raw animals - was one thing but to mess with the garden...Could tigers even eat vegetables? Actually, Percy thought, could Atsushi eat uncooked chicken and it not have any negative effects on his stomach because he was half god? Or did that have to do with Atsushi’s ability to heal.

“You can heal along with transforming into a tiger which gives you the ability to defend yourself because of its teeth and claws,” Percy voiced. “That’s why you don’t think there’s any other survivors.” There was intake of breath. Percy didn’t look towards Kunikida, no, instead he continued speaking to Atsushi . “That’s how you escaped the hotel room.” Percy remembered the words he had heard in the alley way that had reeked of blood. His stomach churned at both what Bachman wanted and what he implied about the headmaster of the orphanage. Bachman had been right about the orphanage not keeping Atsushi - if he could tell that Percy’s mind was a mess and know his actual name - then he must have been right the orphanage wasn’t feeding Atsushi. “Bachman wasn’t going to turn you over after he realized you were able to regrow limbs. He was going on about you staying with him and how he would treat you better than the headmaster had.” Percy left out that Bachman had accused Atsushi of being just as cruel as the headmaster for not feeding him. 

Bachman wasn’t likely a monster otherwise Riptide would have hurt him; likely was a part of that sentence because certain monsters needed to be killed in certain ways or by certain weapons. Lupa had warned him of just that.... an example of such a monster was werewolves. Werewolves weren’t just creatures from movies that were made up. They were a breed of monsters that originated from a guy named Lycaon who had killed his son and then cooked him into a meal to serve to Zeus. In rage Zeus had cursed the man so that he would turn into a wolf. Riptide wouldn’t work on Lycaon and his offspring, Lupa had warned him. Only weapons forged from argentum - silver - would work on them. 

Bachman wasn’t a werewolf but maybe he was a monster like it? Or was he descended from a god and while mortal enough that Riptide would be useless against him he still had abilities from- 

“I saw him in the alleyway earlier. Did he hurt anyone else? Why was he-“ 

“He’s dead.” Atsushi’s eyes widened at that information. A moment passed and then Percy added, “Dazai shot him in the head.” 

“About that,” Dazai cut into the conversation. “Headshots aren’t like how they’re portrayed in the movies. A person can survive less than thirty minutes to several hours after being shot in the head. Bachman is being treated right now.” 

Atsushi blanched, shoulders curving into himself as though he had been punched in the stomach. Percy didn’t blanch but that didn’t mean he was happy by the news. But then again...Bachman had seen into his mind. He could be the only lead Perch had to his past. The thing was- 

At Percy’s stare Dazai added, “Abraham Lincoln is a good example.” Percy had no idea who that was and honestly it didn’t matter. Percy opened his mouth but Dazai beat him to speaking up. “Kunikida fork over a page of your notebook.” After giving that ordered Dazai looked to Percy. “Will you hand over your pen to Atsushi?” Despite it being phrased as a question Percy didn’t feel like he would easily be allowed to refuse it. “He’ll test out if it has ink.” 

Percy’s eyes moved to Atsushi. The transformed tiger’s eyebrows were knitted together in confusion at whatever was going on before him. 

A ripping noise filled the room as Kunikida tore out a page from his notebook. Despite how much the man had shown to care for notebook he didn’t argue over handing a page over after Dazai had requested it. 

It’ll come back, Percy thought, Riptide always come back. Still there was something uncomfortable about this even though Dazai was a demi-god and likely so was Atsushi. With three pairs of eyes staring at him Percy handed over the pen.

“I want you to write down the address of the orphanage. If you know the phone number I would be appreciative if you wrote that down too,” Dazai gently told Atsushi who was reaching out to take Percy’s pen. 

“Why?” Atsushi inquired, a fearful tone in his voice. His fingers wrapped around top part of the pen and Percy relinquished his hold over not only his weapon but one of the few ties he had to his past. It was the piece of paper Kunikida had placed on the table that Atsushi grabbed next despite the fear Percy had heard in his voice. 

“There’s been a good many disappearances in this city,” Kunikida answered, beginning to explain just why they wanted this information, “and so this case is being taken with a lot more severity. Originally, you were believed to be the culprit. Now our lead suspect is Bachman. Along with my colleague performing a gastric suction we’ll need to find and collect witnesses for testimony.” 

“A gastric suction is where you pump someone’s stomach,” Percy added in just in case Atsushi didn’t know what those two words meant. Percy himself hadn’t known their meaning until Dazai had explained it earlier this evening. 

Atsushi’s grip on the Riptide tightened, his knuckles started to grow white from just how hard he was holding the pen. “They don’t have the best opinion of me,” he murmured out. “They won’t-“ 

“They will,” Dazai promised in a tone so sweet - too sweet - that the hairs on the back of Percy’s neck stood up. He dropped the sugary modulation when he spoke again. “But let’s not worry about that right now. I just need you to focus on what I asked of you.” A moment and then, “Actually would anyone like something to drink?” 

Percy stared at Riptide which was held between Atsushi’s fingers. Apparently it did have ink. “I’ll take a glass of water.” 

Atsushi answered next, “....Do you have any green tea?” Atsushi quickly added, “If not, I’ll have some water too.” 

“Kunikida, could you please fetch them their drinks?”

The pen between Kunikida’s fingers that he had been writing with came to a pause. The blonde looked up from his notebook to give Dazai a glare. “Usually when a person offers others a drink they fetch the drinks themselves.” Despite his words Kunikida didn’t look away from his partner and get back to taking notes. He probably was expecting an argument.

“I won’t mess with your hair band for the next few days if you grab the drinks,” Dazai offered in exchange.

A few seconds went by as Kunikida considered the offer. The pen in between the blonde man’s finder was placed to the side of his notebook and then with a thud the notebook was closed. Kunikida got up from his chair and left the windows unprotected. It wasn’t till his partner was about to open the door - the only other exit out of the room besides the windows - that Dazai said, “I’ll take a cup of coffee!” 

Like a bolt of lightning annoyance flashed across Kunikida’s face. If there had been a pen between his fingers it surely would have snapped. Instead of lecturing or even yelling at his partner Kunikida merely exhaled loudly through his nose before opening the door and closing it behind him. 

“...Are the two of them always like this?” Atsushi inquired as he paused in writing. Actually, Percy realized as the white haired young adult put the pen down so he could grab the piece of torn off paper, he was done with writing down the information Dazai had asked for. 

“To be honest,” Percy began to admit as he watched Dazai take the offered up paper, “I just met them both today so I don’t know.” 

Atsushi’s eyes widened. “Oh.” A moment and then, “I thought you worked here too.” With an out stretched hand Atsushi tried to return back the Riptide. 

“He could if he wanted to,” Dazai admitted, taking control of the conversation. “He must certainly has the drive the agency looks for when it comes to employees and he wouldn’t be the only teenager we have hired.” Before Percy could say, ‘I love how you’re taking about me like I’m not in the room’ Dazai added, “He actually was the one who first came to your aid when you were being attacked, Atsushi.” 

Atsushi eyes grew even wider. In other circumstances it might have been comical to watch. (He was beginning to look like a cartoon character.) Atsushi dipped his chin and uttered out a thank you. 

Percy took Riptide and shoved it back his pocket. He lifted up his shoulders to shrug, that was all response he gave for now. It was uncomfortable being thanked when Percy had been originally planning to hunt the tiger down to kill it- no, him. 

Talking about killing monsters were they able to be killed here in Japan or would they just reform like evil dusty bunnies like the Gorgon sisters did? If it was the latter, then that would most certainly explain why there were so many disappearances in the city- 

“If you’re interested in what working here would be like you could always visit tomorrow to ask Tanizaki any questions you have.” 

A rejection was the answer Percy first thought of it. He bit the response back in favor of saying, “Can I bring my mom with me tomorrow? We could talk about everything then.” 

“Sure,” Dazai chirped with a smile. “After all her son has committed two crimes that could lead to you being tossed in jail.” Percy’s eyebrows knitted together, his lips parting so he could ask just what he had done wrong only for Dazai to beat him to it. “Openly carrying a sword is a crime that would have you arrested and detained for at least ten days.” 

You’re a demi-god, Percy wanted to retort, you know why I’m carrying a weapon.

“If you’re a part of the Armed Detective Agency you would not only be permitted -“ 

The door to the room was opened. Percy’s eyes darted away from Dazai to the noise. Now that the door was opened Kunikida transferred one cup into his hand instead of holding it by pressing it into his chest by his arm. Kunikida had three cups in all. Two of them had steam curling above them and that had partially fogged up Kunikida’s glasses. Those two cups had the be cups of tea and coffee. 

“- carry a weapon with you the President would also speak to the prosecutor and, if the prosecutor chose to press the case, he would speak to the judge.” 

“Prosecutor?” Percy repeated as Kunikida sat down Dazai and Atsushi’s drinks before making his way to the other end of the table. 

“A public official who is in charge of gathering evidence against someone who is believed to have broken the law. A prosecutor can decide whether to prosecute or not depending on the circumstances of the crime or accused,” Kunikida explained as he handed Percy his cup of water before he went to retake his seat by the windows. 

“Since Percy is a minor shouldn’t he,” Atsushi began only to be interrupted. There, Percy couldn’t help but notice, had been genuine worry in his voice despite knowing each other for less than an hour. 

“If your mother reached out to the U.S. embassy there would only be so much they could do,” Dazai admitted before picking up his cup of coffee. He took a sip before jerking his head back, a look of alarm flickering across his face. The brunette turned to face his partner. “Kunikida!” Dazai cried out like a spoiled child. “You didn’t put any ice in it for me.” 

“You have a pair of lungs don’t you, Dazai? Then blow some air on it before taking a sip,” was the unsympathetic reply Kunikida gave. The man who nearest to Percy had taken off his glasses and was wiping them off by the inside of his shirt instead of his vest. After placing his glasses back on his nose Kunikida tucked the dark shirt back into place. 

“...Why do I feel like I’m being blackmailed?” Percy asked, unrepentant of the accusation.

“Blackmailed?” Atsushi repeated, his eyes darted between the three of them. 

A hand with bandages wrapped as far as the wrist was raised to Dazai’s chest as though the young man scandalized. “I’m no Kyoya Ootori!” The brunette exclaimed. 

“Who?” Percy asked. His question was ignored. 

“Honestly, if anyone here had a personality close to that character it would be, Kunikida. The next time we see Naomi we’ll ask her who she thinks acts most like Kyoya. She is the most capable of answering this question after all.” A moment and then Dazai added, “Is it really unbelievable to think that I want to best for my knight in shinning armor?” 

Percy fixed Dazai with an unimpressed look. “We just met today.” When Percy continued speaking it wasn’t in as harsh of a tone, “There’s a difference between offering some help to someone who needs it and having to-“ 

Dazai rolled his head to the side. He looked like a confused dog. The words that followed were anything but confused though. “So it’s okay for you to save someone but not for others to help you when you need it.“ A contemplative look crossed Dazai’s face. He straightened his neck. “Kunikida might have been onto something when he accused you of playing hero.” Dazai let the insult sink in before he said in amendment, “Or maybe you’re uncomfortableness at being helped is a byproduct of how you’ve been raised.” Dazai brought his shoulders up to shrug. “We’ll just find out tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow?” Kunikida repeated in a bemused tone. 

“Percy agreed to visit with his mom then. No need to wake the poor woman in middle of the night,” Dazai explained to his partner as he began to get up from his chair. 

Were they really going to insist to walk Percy back home again? They wouldn’t, right? They had the main suspect in custody so it made no sense to do so. So surely- 

“I’ll walk you to the door and give you so money for a taxi ride,” Dazai volunteered and Percy had to hold himself back from exhaling in relief. 

[\\]

The doors to the elevator pulled back as it opened, revealing the hallway. Kyoka took a step forward and then another. She passed through the grey doors of the elevator and had stepped foot into the hallway of the hotel. 

“Are you okay?” A voice asked, breaking Kyoka from her thoughts. 

She raised her chin, her eyes looking upward. She didn’t have to look that far above.  
His hair was as bright as his voice, was the first thought Kyoka had. The freckled boy looked about her age was the second observation that occurred. 

“My earring dropped,” Kyoka murmured out and the length of her side bangs concealed the lie she had just told. After a moment Kyoka added something to her story since because of the murders the man-tiger had been committing a lot of people did not take well to children or teenagers being out on their own. “My mother let me go back to the lobby to see if it was there while she and father unloaded groceries.” She wondered how often other people wanted their lies to be truth.

There was a pause then. Despite the seconds that ticked by the teenager didn’t move past her. Uncomfortableness prickled her skin but she didn’t feel threatened (yet). 

“...Did you find it?” The teenage boy inquired and he sounded like genuinely cared even though they had just met - even though it’s was a silly earring (that wasn’t even real). 

“Yes.” 

His lips parted and he smiled down at her. 

I’ve killed thirty-two people. I’m about to kill two more and then it’ll be thirty- four. You wouldn’t smile down at me like that if you knew. 

“That’s great!” Exclaimed the blonde teenager. A moment and then, “I hope you have a goodnight of sleep and don’t let the bed bugs bite!” 

When was the last time someone other than Kouyou wished her goodnight? 

(The last time had been months ago when her parents had still been alive.) 

(Why was a stranger being so nice?) 

“You too,” she wished. 

It was then that the teenager in overalls walked by her. Kyoka took a step forward and then another one after that. It wasn’t till she heard the elevator doors being shut that Kyoka hurried her pace and made her way to the fourth door on this floor. In different circumstances she might have raised her knuckles to the door and knocked, playing on her age to gain access to her victims’ residence. This was a hotel though; Kyoka didn’t want someone from another room to come out. She raised a hand to hair and pulled out some pins. It took less than a minute to realize that the door wasn’t even unlocked. 

Warily eyeing the doorknob as she slipped the pins back in her hair before opening the door. The lights were off in the entrance way and what Kyoka could see of the rest of the house from here. It took less than two minutes to find the bedroom of the hotel room. 

It took less ten minutes to clear the entire place. There was no one here yet. A text was sent. An order was given and so Kyoka hid herself and waited. 

[\\] 

Percy inhaled cold, fresh air as he walked further away from the building the Armed Detective Agency resided in despite Dazai having told him to wait outside for the taxi the detective had called. He had shoved the money Dazai had given him into his pocket; money, Percy couldn’t help but notice, that had from Dazai’s own pockets despite the man having lost his wallet in the river.

He didn’t regret saving the dark haired man but there was something about Dazai that the longer Percy stayed in his company the more the adult prodded about Percy’s life. And for some reason despite all that prodding Dazai was just letting him go. Something was fishy.

A group of young adults rounded the corner, their conversation breaking Percy from his thoughts.

“Hey!” Percy called and he did not rush forward towards them. He didn’t want to frighten them and so he stayed in place. “I’m sorry if my Japanese is bad - if I need to repeat anything please let know. I’m a vacationer.” 

The members of the group slowed to a stop. Nervous looks were exchanged. Not for the first time Percy was aware that his ruined clothes made him stick out like a sore thumb still he had never been able to bring himself to ditch the orange shirt and pair of shorts. They were the clothes he had been wearing when he had woken up in the Wolf House. They, along with the beaded necklace and Riptide, were one of the few connections he had to his past.

Percy contemplated saying he had been robbed. In the end he chose to be straight forward and to stay exactly where he was, “I only wanted to ask what’s the closest city to this one.” 

“Kawasaki,” a meek voice offered. It belonged to young woman who had a hoodie covering her ears and the edges of her face. 

“No, it’s Yamato,” argued her companion. 

The shortest of the group knitted her eyebrows together but she didn’t inject herself to the conversation. No, she merely slipped a hand into her pink jacket. Percy’s fingers curved around Riptide but he didn’t draw it out (yet). It was a phone the stranger pulled out. Light landed on her face when the young lady turned it on before tapping away at it. 

“Yamato is the third closest city,” murmured the lady who had spoken first. 

Her friend shook her head which made her strands of hair move side to side. “No, it’s not.” A moment and then, “How about this? Whoever is wrong can buy the other a mea-“ 

“It’s Kawasaki,” chipped in the lady with a phone. 

Two heads turned to face the shortest member of the group. The young woman who was wrong then exclaimed, “It doesn’t count. You hadn’t agreed to it!” 

Her friend dipped her head instead of protesting. 

“Thank you,” Percy said as he wondered just what to do next. He had the answer he needed to try getting out of the city and to test if he was allowed out of it. The thing was there weren’t a lot of taxis out and about and Percy could honestly use some sleep before trying to find out more. Then there was also Bachman. Bachman who saw into his mind. He could tell it was a mess but he hadn’t said just how much had he seen. Bachman could possibly know who Percy’s family and friends and what state they were in. On the possibility he survived Bachman would have security around him. They likely wouldn’t let a civilian - one who didn’t even have an paperwork that was needed to prove he was legally here - just pop in so Percy could just ask some questions. A member of the ADA however....

Percy let out a breath of air. He breathed in the smell of the ocean before asking, “Is it okay if I go that way?”

Eyebrows climbed near hairlines. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The young woman then stepped closer to her friends so Percy could get by. It was then that Percy was able to round the corner and keep walking despite having no idea just where he was headed. A part of him wanted to go to the port; the urge was a tug, a sweet whisper that he’ll be stronger there. The water always made him feel better after walking through it. The thing was the port wasn’t some body of water in middle of the woods. There would be people there. Not just civilians but some security guards as well considering there would surely be a good many boats and ships in the port. There could even be cameras. There was also the fact if he stayed there tonight instead of the hotel room he would be out in the open- 

It was then that Percy remembered the wet leather jacket he had found in the hotel room; he should have recalled that earlier - he needed to get some sleep because being this slow was going to end up getting him killed. Okay, so he might not be out in the open in the hotel room but that didn’t mean he was secure. There was also the fact the Armed Detective Agency knew the building he was supposedly staying at. All it would take is one call to find out that there wasn’t a tourist family by the name of Jackson staying there for them to know Percy lying and eventually someone was going to notice that the family in the hotel room Percy had woken up in had disappeared. 

The hand not shoved into his pocket was lifted up. His pointer and middle finger curled around his necklace while his thumb began rubbing the beads. 

This was however assuming that the detectives hadn’t already called the hotel or even believed his lie to begin with. But if Dazai didn’t believe him then just why had he let him go so easily? He was detective. He should be upholding the law and considering how pushy he had been Dazai had found him either suspicious or interesting. Talking about Dazai why hadn’t he said something about the gods sometime today? Was it because the older man suspected Percy was a demi-god that he let Percy go so easily despite how interested he had been in finding out about Percy’s life? Or was it something else?

The smell of the sea grew stronger. It didn’t calm Percy though. There were too many things he needed to figure out: where to sleep for the night, staying or leaving and if he can’t leave the city what then, what Dazai’s motives were, whether Atsushi was a creature like Lupa or a demi-god, what to do with Bachman- you know what? He needed to stop overwhelming himself. One thing at the time. The most important to the least important. The most important being getting some sleep and then the second thing was testing out if he even could get out of the city. 

Apartment or the port?

His feet came to a stop. Gone were building on both sides of him. On one side was a building and on the other was not only a street but some low architecture you could lean on as you took in the view. It took longer than it should have to realize he had seen this area before. He was near the river he had rescued Dazai from. 

Oh. 

A source of water that wouldn’t have lots of people near it. This could work. Checking both ways for traffic - there was nothing - Percy let go of his necklace before running across the street. There, Percy knee for a fact, was a pair of stairs that descended to the riverbank. The thing was he didn’t know what direction....

He eyed the fall before tilting his head to side. If he was invulnerable to attacks then surely he would be fine with the jump. He placed both his hands on the low architecture before raising a leg over it and then another. There was barely any room to stand on ledge wise. Percy removed his hands and fell. 

Air rushed around him before with a loud thud filled the air as Percy’s feet landed on the riverbank. There was no pain shooting up from feet. Huh. Good to know; it be might be useful in the future. After realizing there was no injury from the stunt Percy began to walk to the riverbank. It didn’t take long. Like all the other times Percy had partially or wholly submerged himself into water he didn’t get wet. Which was great because one way or another he could use the money had given him for the taxi ride he never went on. Despite the water not soaking through his clothes it made him feel better, like he could take on a fight against monsters and win despite how much he needed to sleep. 

Fishes stared at him as he descended further into weather. When Percy turned his head from side to side they were only creature he could see and he could see in the water despite it being nighttime. 

“Is this one like him?” A voice inquired, jolting Percy from his thoughts. 

“Him?” He repeated back to the fish. It was only after he asked that Percy formed a guess on just who the fish was referring to: Dazai. Did they think he was trying to kill himself like Dazai had? Didn’t the fish see how his clothes were dry and that he- 

Eyes blinked in surprise. Apparently the fish hadn’t been expecting to be heard by him much less asked a question back. 

“The one with cloth. He likes to come here.” It was then that anger crept into the fish’s voice, “Sometimes the cloth gets lose. The cloth is bad. If you shallow it you’ll stop swimming.” 

A fish - if not fishes - had choked on the bandages then. “...I’ll tell him that if I run into him,” Percy promised to the fish, though he wouldn’t say a fish had told him so; he’ll just say he saw a dead fish with bandages in its mouth. “I don’t know if he’ll listen but...” Percy trailed off. Dazai had admitted he didn’t want to kill himself in a way that would burden others before inviting Percy out to eat because of that reason but he probably didn’t count fish as people who he didn’t want to burden. In the back of his mind Percy couldn’t help but wonder if it was on this riverbank that he had caught Dazai’s interests or had it been something else he had done today to catch it... 

He wasn’t planning to announce to the fishes he was going to sleep here but considering they associated not moving with death Percy felt the urge to warn them. “I’m going to stop swimming. Nothing will be wrong with me. I’m not a fish-“ 

“I know,” said another fish, interrupting Percy.

“Good, then don’t freak out that I stop swimming.” 

Those were the last words Percy said for the night. It took a while to fall asleep but eventually he did. 

[\\] 

Unnerved. That was the word Percy would use if someone was to ask how he slept but there was no one there to do it despite the bustle of the crowd; Percy wasn’t traveling to school where he could confide to a friend either the way there or at school in a whispered voice while class was going on, he wasn’t being texted grocery list by a parent and so he couldn’t text back how he didn’t feel well, nor was he heading to work. No, Percy was alone in a city he was had only known for a day. A city he had not chosen to travel to but had woken up in without any warning. 

Percy forced himself through the crowd so he could reach near the street. Even in another country the taxis were yellow. Or, Percy amended, least some of them were. He lifted his hand and brought his thumb and the finger next to his mouth. Here’s to hoping a sharp whistle would draw the attention of a taxi. It took a few tries but eventually one did slow to a stop. 

Percy lowered his hand so he could grab onto the handle. He pulled the door open before sliding into the seat. 

“Where to?” The taxi driver asked. 

“Kawasaki,” Percy told the man. 

There was pause. The brunette man’s eyes meet Percy’s own through the tiny hanging mirror. “You have the money for it?” A moment and then, “Have you gone to the hospital? You look-“ 

“I was robbed at the airport,” Percy admitted, interrupting the man. “The guy took my luggage but not before attacking me. When I went to the hospital I got some stitches but I’m fine besides that. I keep my money in my shoes so that’s how I’m going to pay for the drive and for the hotel room.” 

“You’re vacationing?” Interest had leaked itself in the man’s voice. “Have you already made reservations? I don’t have any pamphlets for hotels for Kawasaki. Only Yokohama.” 

“I am,” Percy lied. “So far it hasn’t been going well but hopefully the rest of this trip will turn out better.” 

“Well I hope so too.” After that there was a lull in conversation and so Percy repeated the names he had heard himself crying out to as he fidgeted in his seat: Grover, Annabeth, Beckendorf, Tyson, Selina, and Luke. 

The only one Percy recognized was Annabeth’s name. On one hand he was grateful for the names but on the other he wished his other self had dropped a last name. Besides the names, the only information he had gotten out of that dream was stay away from anything that looked like a child. So far in his life - which admittedly wasn’t that long since he didn’t remember his past - Percy had never encountered a monster that had injured him enough to leave a bruise. If it could injury him enough to bruise then it likely could find a way to kill him. He exhaled and breathed in some air; it tasted stale. So- 

Percy’s eyes widened as a yellow sort of mist started to leak into the back of the car. Despite this being a test to see if whatever had divine being had kidnapped him in this city would make an effort to keep him it Percy’s eyes darted to the only mirror in the car. Words of warning died in Percy’s throat at the sight of a mask covering the man’s face. 

Fight or get out? 

Percy didn’t take long to figure out his answer to the question. It wasn’t the first time Percy wondered if Riptide would work on the monsters that occupied Japan. He made quick work of unbuckling before taking his elbow and slamming it in the window. The sound of glass breaking filled the taxi and surely some shards landed into the road. He hadn’t broken enough glass to crawl at so once more Percy raised his below to slam it further to the -

The car jerked to the side, throwing Percy to the other side of the car and knocking the air out of his lungs. His chest expanded as he gulped in as little air as he could. Percy scrambled across the seats of the taxi only for the car to jerk again. His back slammed against the door of the opposite end of the car for the second time today. Okay, you want me here? Fine. Have it. 

Instead of trying to climb all the way across the taxi Percy merely moved a few inches away from the door so he could lift his foot and slam it against the windows. It broke under his foot and uncaring of the glass that littered the seats Percy began to make his way to the window. He could feel his heart pounding. He needed to breathe soon. The car began to swirl but Percy’s fingers dug into the seat to the point his knuckles grew white from how hard he was holding on. Would he be safe to breath with both the windows broken - one more than the other? Percy let go of the car seat and began to make his way to and through the window, not caring of what glass remained. The fall wasn’t that far but still Percy slammed into concrete. 

There was honking and cars about him. It was too fast. Too bright. Percy was going to get up. He was going to get up and he did but it was slow. Too slow. He was sluggish- 

Cars were shooting by. Didn’t need to walk in front of them he would- they would - but he needed to get away. 

His feet carried him only so far before his eyes drooped and - 

.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.

Something fell to the ground. A grinding noise followed. 

“You idiot! You fucking idiot! He wasn’t just bugged - look at this card. It’s the Armed Detective Agency!”


	7. How to plan a break out of confinement for dummies.

[\\] 

Stocking clad legs kicked back and forth. This form was rather small so it’s feet didn’t reach the floor. It didn’t bother with a respectful tone despite who it was talking to. This Great Old One couldn’t understand tones of voice if his life depended on it. For something so powerful he was rather stupid, it thought as it wrote name after name down and listened to instructions delivered over the phone. 

.  
.  
.  
.

[\\]

Hands were suddenly rested themselves on Kunikida’s shoulder. The man jerked at the touch, abruptly yanked out of his thoughts. Breath fanned Kunikida’s ear as a familiar voice spoke. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, Kunikida? I thought we agreed to call it a night. After all not only do we have a hotel room to investigate but a Kunikida with no sleep and all work makes you a dull boy.” 

Kunikida’s eyes looked away from the screen of the computer to the ceiling. Others might have prayed to be lent strength by whatever they believed. Kunikida however merely breathed in and out as he counting seconds; the President had assigned him to be partners with Dazai - which meant reigning his fellow detective in - and while the man was brilliant he could also be tiring for Kunikida’s nerves. “I am older than twenty, Dazai. I am not a boy.” It was only after he had brought up being past the age of adulthood that another response popped into his mind. “What are you doing here?” It was then that Kunikida turned his neck around so he could look back on his partner. Doing so caused the back of Kunikda’s head to smack Dazai’s face since the man had still be leaning his head so he could whisper in Kunikida’s ear. Dazai jerked back. A pout began to form on the man’s lips before he parted them to whine about Kunikida being rough with him.

Kunikida merely looked up his theatrical partner and said, “You’ll live.” Dazai sniffled like a child before opening his mouth to say something else. Kunikida beat him to it. “Now what are you doing here, Dazai?” Kunikida was well aware that Dazai had problems sleeping. He had learned so when they had been given a case outside of the city which had forced them to share a hotel room; before that investigation in Machida he had assumed the man simply stayed up too late instead of getting sleep like he should have not only for his health - having eight hours of sleep was good for one’s immune system - but because he had a job that demanded his mind and body be in prime condition. 

“I gave Atsushi one of the rooms in the dormitory. That and a phone with our numbers programmed into it in case he needs something. Now that that’s been handled I was planning-“ 

Kunikida momentarily put a pin on the first sentence of Dazai’s answer. He would get to that - and he would - in a minute. “You think something is going to happen.” It was then that Kunikida recalled how the fight in the alley way had ended. His partner had shot the suspect in the head. Yes, Yosano had been with them and the man had attacked both Percy and Atsushi - both of which were near him - and likely was behind Rokuzō’s disappearance but still that hadn’t been right. They could have taken him in without doing that. They could have- 

“Even if the rest of the case with Bachman goes smoothly there still is the they Atsushi mentioned,” Dazai said, reminding Kunikida of that aspect of the interrogation that they had had with the white hairs teenager not once but twice. The second time had been when Dazai had brought their second witness in the room. Dazai walked away from behind Kunikida’s desk and grabbed his own chair to bring it near Kunikida’s desk. No scraping sound filled the silent office. Even if Dazai hadn’t been carrying the chair there were wheels at the bottom of it unlike the rest of the chairs in the office. That man could spend money on a leather chair with wheels on it instead of making do like the rest of them but he couldn’t find it in himself to pay his tab at the shop below them. 

While Dazai brought the chair Kunikida reached for Ideal that had been closed while he had been on the computer earlier. Placing it below the keyboard he flipped it open and grabbed on of the many pens he kept on the desk. It took a minute to find the page he had kept his notes on his this case on. He flipped to the next page that was empty from writing which would soon be filled with his notes. He began to write.

> Main suspect: “Richard Bachman.” (There is a possibility this individual and his crimes are not only just his. Our main witness has attested that there was a “they” Bachman was working with. 

Dazai’s voice made Kunikida pause in writing. He lifted the pen from the page so no ink spot would appear and grow on the page while he listened to his partner’s thoughts. “There might be some evidence between whoever Bachman was working for or with in the hotel room Atsushi gave us the addresses and room number for. If there is, there’s a good chance this case could be international. If that was Bachman’s true form then he’s Caucasian. This would partially support the lie he told, Atsushi.” Dazai waited a few seconds being adding, “The best lies aren’t complicated. They’re close to the truth. You should write that down - you’re horribly at lying, Kunikida.” At the last sentence Dazai’s voice had taken on a lighter tone than he had previously been speaking in. Kunikda’s fingers tightened their grip on the pen before Kunikida forced himself to exhale (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten) and then loosening his grip on it. He didn’t need to break another pen. He had already broken more than he should have today because of his partner’s antics. If this loss continued to go beyond the allotted plan than Kunikida would have to use his ability to create several packs of them so this wouldn’t effect the office’s budget.

After he counted to ten for a second time Kunikida added his own thoughts. “The witness said Bachman was here on a business trip. Perhaps-“ 

“Witness, Kunikida? So cold, so impersonal,” admonished Dazai. Despite the scolding Kunikida didn’t feel any shame. He was right in how he treated witnesses and this was also coming from the man who would occasionally flirt with both clients and witnesses alike. Kunikida shot his partner a look. “That’s exactly what he is...though I suppose victim is right too.” It was then that Kunikida remembered the question he had pinned for later. “Why did you give him a room in at the agency’s dormitory. I know you think something could go wrong - I’m not disagreeing with that - but surely-“ 

Dazai lifted up a finger. He didn’t wag it like an adult might do to a child which was a fortunate thing because otherwise Kunikda would have surely- 

“We’re going to make him one of us.” 

Kunikida’s brain halted. It took a minute for him to be able to think again. “What?” He barked out. Once again Kunikida counted in his mind before collecting himself and his thoughts. “Even though he’s not the perpetrator behind this case that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been destroying property. He would still be wanted by the city police for that alone.” Knowing his partner, Dazai somehow would get the kid off of being charged for the destruction of warehouses if he truly wanted Atsushi to join the Armed Detective Agency and so Kunikida continued with counter arguments. “Have you even asked the kid if he wants the job or just assumed it? He’s still under twenty. If - if - you somehow cleared up the vandalism charges against him he might not want the job but rather live in another orphanage. Then there’s the question of the the President’s thoughts on the matter.” 

A smile split itself on Dazai’s face. Perhaps to others it would have been a charming thing on a handsome face but to Kunikida it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “First off, the definition of vandalism is purposely destroying property, Kunikida. Atsushi has no control over his ability and could not fully consent of the destruction the tiger created. Thus it wasn’t vandalism. Second, I already have asked,” Dazai informed him, looking like the cat who caught the canary. “He agreed.” A look of contemplation was painted across his face, “Though he left me in charge of coming up with the entrance exam. I thought we could brainstorm together later today but since we’re both here we could have a slumber party and do it together now!” 

There was no way Kunikida could give a look that could even begin to convey the encyclopedias of exasperation he felt but still he attempted so. Unsurprisingly, Dazai didn’t wither up under the glare nor did he repent for the bullshit suggestion he spouted out. After a minute of glaring Kunikida spoke up. “I will schedule in a part of today towards helping you. The entrance exam is a matter of importance.” 

Dazai threw both of his bandaged hands in the air in excitement. Not so fast, Kunikida thought. “And what of Percy?” Kunikidia inquired. If Dazai had been truthful about his offer then they would need to have the younger boy away from when Atsushi took the exam and they would need to make Atsushi to swear not to inform Percy of the entrance exam. The white haired boy didn’t seem like a blabber mouth but that perception might have been because of the trauma from having encountered Bachman or because he had a mistrust of authority. “I heard the offer you were extending while I was out fetching drinks. What do you have planned in that mind of yours? Earlier, you just let him go without either of us interrogating him and then there’s the fact if he is on a vacation then he can’t take on a paying job while in Japan.” If was the key word of that sentence. The teenager had neither openly confirmed nor denied just why he was in Japan. That said, there were instances where Percy had given some background on himself. His mother was working. That meant either the family were living here or the mother had illegally taken on work during the vacation. Percy said he didn’t have a phone. Was it because he purposely didn’t bring it with him, had lost it in the river like Dazai too had, or because he and his family had a WiFi hotspot? If he was a student then he should have had a SIM card for his phone by now...

Then there was how the boy spoke Japanese. It could be that the boy was or was descended from immigrants. If so, why not just say so instead of wasting Dazai and his time? Well, Kunikida amended, if he was an immigrate then his mother had every right to be working. Honestly, he should have demanded to see the boy’s Zairyu Card if Percy had one. That would have cl- 

Dazai’s expression sobered up. “About that....he’s actually the reason why I’m here.”

[\\] 

Percy woke up to an unfamiliar feeling. His head felt like his heart beat: pounding. No, throbbing was a better way to describe it and, unlike his heart, this actually hurt. 

Percy opened his eyes and was greeted to the sight of skin and metal. With all the Gorgons attempts on his life of course there had been holes and slash marks through his clothing where one can see a bit of skin but this was all of his chest. His shirt was gone and so were the pair of shorts. The only article of clothing - key word being article of clothing since someone had put a pair of handcuffs not only on his wrist but also around his ankles - left on his body was his underwear. Despite the fact he could see scars on his chest and that his underwear had no pockets Percy couldn’t focus on those things right now. Anger had sprouted inside of his stomach. Yes, his clothes were ruined but they were one of the few things Percy had of his past and so he had never got rid of them despite how their destroyed state made him stick out like a sore thumb. 

It was then he wondered if his beaded necklace had stolen too. Percy had to raise both his hands at once to check. His finger tips brushed against sweaty skin instead of beads that were strung on the string of the necklace. Percy’s lips parted to reveal teeth. In this moment he was more wolf than half mortal. There was no one there to see the feral anger though. 

Lupa had once told him one evening that a pack of wolves were more dangerous to humans if a person killed a member or two of the pack. She had something about the deaths disrupting pack dynamics and thus made the animals more dangerous than before. That conversation that Lupa had enlightened Percy with had not been some random bit of nature factoids than his teacher decided to say to fill the silence one night after treating. (The idea of Lupa being uncomfortable with silence was laughable.) The conversation had a double meaning. For some reason the deity that had stolen his memories had left Percy at the Wolf House. It was there that he had been trained by the she wolf. It was there that he had been raised after he proved his strength. While he was a child of Lupa there likely had been a time when Percy had had a different family. Someone had disrupted the dynamics of that family and then possibly that same deity had dropped Percy here instead of letting him finish his journey that Lupa had promised would eventually lead him to finding Annabeth. 

Was this mess part of the journey or had someone disrupted and was continuing to disrupt it? 

Percy looked around him or, rather, looked as much as he possibly could considering his predicament. He was on the floor with not only his hands bound but his feet as well. When he raised his eyes he saw metal beams separating pieces of glass. The bottom was lined with metal beams as well. Outside of the barrier was a poorly lit room; actually, Percy realized, what little light there was in the room came from in here and it was just filtering out. The area Percy was kept in must have cost time and money to create but for some reason the rest of the room looked neglected. Percy took a breath in. The smell of mildew greeted him and the air was hot. Considering the state of the rest of room the mildew wasn’t surprising. The walls looked like they were rotting and old wires dangling from the ceiling. This place hadn’t been truly be taken care of for some years now. He wondered if the water that had created the mildew was from a busted pipe or a ceiling leak... 

Percy lifted his chin up he so could get a better look. It was only then that he noticed a small red light that came from the corner of the room. A camera. 

Okay, Percy thought, there was a demi-god in on this. From his experience monsters didn’t use technology. Which, okay, a god could be using the technology but why would they? Surely a god could-

A voice brought Percy out of his thoughts. “I can’t be the only one that’s curious why he’s handcuffed - not once but twice!” It was a female’s voice. It sounded young. 

He wasn’t the only here. 

“...Does it matter?” Was the reply given back. That voice sounded older and rather tired. 

Why were they here then? Were there more than one demi-god - more than just him - that had been taken from United States and just dropped into this city for some reason? Or were these two from Japan but just had been taken simply because they were demi-gods? 

“Yeah, you’re right,” the first voice was bitting in sarcasm, “I should just count sheep while I wait for them to finally take me.” 

Percy slowly pressed his wrists further into the metal of the handcuffs so he could test it. It didn’t look like the same metal as his sword. It didn’t feel unyielding either. He could try to break them but whoever was watching through the camera would notice. Was there only one person - the one watching through the camera - guarding them or more? The next question being how close were the person or monster guarding them? 

Why were they - him and the other victims - here of all places? (And why that hotel room from yesterday if the person behind this was the same one who brought him to this country?) Percy looked away from the handcuffs to the panels of glass. He wondered just how thick it was. Likely, he could break it but he have to do so quickly. The moment he broke the handcuffs on his wrist and then the ones on his ankles someone would be coming even without Percy attempting to get out of this glass prison. The question was would it be a demi-god, monster, or god? That and just how much security there was here... 

He didn’t have Riptide and had no idea where his clothes were. So he didn’t have an actual weapon to fight with. (That was of course assuming that Riptide would even work on the monsters that were in this country.) He still had his powers though...but  
that hadn’t been enough last time because of the gas that had been used. 

Well he knew better this time. If he saw gas he would get the hell out of there or would have to make sure not to get the air knocked out of him if he couldn’t escape just yet. 

Back to Riptide: the sword always reappeared in Percy’s pocket no matter what it was left. If he got ahold of another set of clothes would it reappear or did the sword only return to his stolen shorts? Percy had never tried on any other clothes so he didn’t know what would happen. So sentimentality aside, he did have a reason to try and find his old clothes. 

Another thing to consider was the people he was trapped with. How much training did they have? Would their powers be any use getting out of here? Did they know they had powers? The first one who had spoke sounded young so she might not have been hunted down by monsters yet.

“You know,” said the first voice, “he could from the Armed Detective Agency and that’s why he’s handcuffed. Now that would matter.”

It was only then that Percy remembered something he had heard. 

The Armed Detective Agency. They thought he was with the Armed Detective Agency not only because of the card he had on him but because someone had put a bug on him. There was only one person Percy could think of that would have done that: Dazai.

If Percy did run into that guy again it wasn’t just going to be the bandages chocking the fish in the river he liked to try and drown himself in that they would be having a discussion about. 

Percy let out a breath of air before sharply inhaling. Just how long had he been bugged? Had it been when Dazai and his partner had dropped him off at the hotel or sometime after the fight with Bachman? Was that the reason why Dazai had let him go so easily instead of pushing for a testimony that night? If that was so, why extend the offer of joining the Agency? Also just where had that bug been? Was that damn bug the reason his clothes had been taken? Because Percy hadn’t used Riptide to get out of the taxi so on the off chance that the people behind this weren’t the god or monster who had dumped him in this city they wouldn’t have known about the pen being a weapon. 

But what a coincidence it was to be attacked just as he was leaving the city....

Percy knew he smelled and that bathing in streams and shoving car air fresheners in his pockets didn’t cover the smell. Had he simply been taken because he was a demi-god and so this wasn’t an attempt to keep him in the city? Still the timing. He hadn’t been attacked at all yesterday until he went looking for the tiger. Why was it that the moment he tried to get out of this city he had been- 

“I doubt the Armed Detective Agency or the police have realized we have been kidnapped. They probably won’t put it together until that fucking tiger is caught or killed. It’s been two weeks since that thing been loose so I doubt it will be anytime soon that they realize what’s been happening.” Bitterness laced the man’s voice. 

Expect the Armed Detective Agency had encountered Atsushi and Bachman last night. None of any future disappearances would be thought of as victims of the ‘tiger ‘ since the main suspect was in custody. Percy however had not only been kidnapped after Bachman had been taken in but he had been bugged so Dazai would know he would have been kidnapped. The thing was even if the Armed Detective Agency focused on this case instead of further investigating Bachman how much would they even be able to find? That and Percy wasn’t going to wait around to see if he and others would be rescued. 

Instead of breaking out of the handcuffs Percy rolled himself onto his back and then to the side. “So...just how long have you been here?” 

[\\] 

Unsurprisingly it didn’t take long for Percy to say something after having left the agency. What was surprising was that it wasn’t to the taxi driver Dazai had called for him.

Percy’s voice came from the recorder as he said a greeting before saying, _“I’m sorry if my Japanese is bad - if I need to repeat anything please let know. I’m a vacationer.”_

Kunikida felt one of his eyebrows raise up, surely it neared his hairline. Why was the boy now giving this information out - that was of course assuming that it wasn’t a lie - when he hadn’t simply answered Dazai’s inquires on whether he was a student or on a vacation? Had his partner’s interest in the boy made Percy uncomfortable or had it been the reveal of their profession that was behind why Percy hadn’t wanted to relinquish any personal information?

It was a minute before the bug caught any more words. Again it was Percy who spoke. _“I only wanted to ask what’s the closest city to this one.”_

Kunikida’s eyes narrowed before he relaxed them. It was towards Dazai that Kunikida looked to. His partner didn’t show any signs of worry about a witness potentially skipping town so either there must be something in the recording that suggested Percy had not left...or Dazai had already been suspecting the teenager to bolt. So what was this? Giving the teenager rope to hang himself or had the bug been put on Percy so they could locate wherever he had ran off to? 

Also just why was Percy asking this to a stranger instead of his family? Or even looking it up once he got back to the hotel room he was staying at since he hadn’t carried his phone with him? 

_“Kawasaki,”_ a voice that Kunikida was unfamiliar with answered. Only then another person answered that it was Yamato. Cue bickering between the two women on which was the right answer. 

While the argument happened Kunikida spoke up for the first time since the recording began. “You were expecting something like this to happen.” It wasn’t really a question. Two years of being partnered with Dazai had been two years spent witnessing the man’s keen sense of gut feelings and observations when said man wasting Kunikida’s time by flirting with people or sleeping on the office’s couch. “Why did you extend the offer of joining the agency then?” 

While Percy had shown twice to be willing to save someone he had also shown a regard for wanting to do so in his own way instead of a better way. He should have- 

_“It’s Kawasaki,”_ a new person said, speaking for the first time since the conversation began. 

_“It doesn’t count. You hadn’t agreed to it!”_ Was exclaimed by one of the women before Percy muttered out a thank you before asking, _“Is it okay if I go that way?”_ The answer was given and then it was silence again. Percy was leaving instead of waiting for the taxi to take him back to the hotel. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising considering the teenager’s question regarding what the next town over was but still this took Kunikida by surprise. Surely- 

“There’s more,” Dazai admitted before leaning forward and grabbing Kunikida’s mouse. The arrow icon moved to where the blue circle had progressed and dragged it further across the line. Dazai then paused, waiting for any noise before clicking on the blue circle and moving even further down. 

_“-im?”_ It was Percy’s voice. Dazai then had to move the blue circle a bit back. Silence filled the room for a minute before Percy suddenly asked, _“Him?_

Someone was there then. Either that person was too far away or was speaking too softly for the bug to pick up. That, Kunikida amended, or the person was either writing to communicate or was gesturing about. 

...Had Percy become aware of the bug? If so, why not also communicate non verbally? 

_“I’ll tell him that if I run into him. I don’t know if he’ll listen but...”_ Percy trailed off. Once again the bug hadn’t caught just who he had been speaking with. Kunikida wondered just who was being spoken about. 

_“I’m going to stop swimming.”_ Stop swimming? Was that some sort of code? _“Nothing will be wrong with me. I’m not a fish-“_

“Not a fish,” Kunikida repeated out loud. 

Dazai raised a finger and shushed him. 

_“Good, then don’t freak out that I stop swimming.”_

Silence once again filled the office. It dragged on because apparently that - whatever that was - was all Percy had left to say and Kunikida was left collecting his thoughts. 

Dazai spoke up. ‘Am I going to have to pay you a penny for your thoughts?’ 

Kunikida turned to his partner with bemusement to be found in both his expression and in the tone of voice he spoke with. “What?” He demanded. 

Dazai’s lips quirked up interest. He looked like a cat that had caught the canary. “I wanted to know your thoughts,” the brunette admitted. 

“Then why didn’t you say so to begin with?” Kunikida inquired and he wasn’t being rhetorical. When something related to a case caught his partner’s interest rarely did the man ever do anything that didn’t have a reason. 

Dazai merely blinked at him. “Where would the fun in that be?” There was no shame in his voice; Kunikida would have been surprised if there had been. 

Kunikida inhaled sharply. It was less than a minute before he confided his thoughts. “  
He could be talking in his sleep or in some sort of code.” A moment then, “That or,” Kunikida began to amend, “he’s harming his body by using drugs.” 

Dazai’s lips twitched upwards. It wasn’t quite a smile but it looked like Dazai was fighting the urge to smile. 

“What?” Kunikida barked. 

Dazai shook his head from side to side. “Kunikida, you are such a mother.” 

Kunikida stared, completely unrepentant of the fact he was being rude by doing so. “I’m not the one who just took in-“ Kunikida stopped talking. His head jerked to area where he heard the phone ringing. Who was calling at this hour? Was it Ranpo, Kenji, Yosano, or a client? 

Dazai sprang up from his chair and made quick work of closing the distance between himself and the phone. When he got to it he plucked the phone off its receiver and held it to the side of his face. Kunikida could only see his partner’s hair since Dazai’s back was to him. He waited for Dazai to speak so he might gather just what the conversation was about. 

“...We’ll handle it.” Dazai’s voice was solemn. 

Kunikida raised his hand and slipped a pen into his pocket before grabbing Ideal. He got up from his chair and waited. 

Dazai was gentle when he placed the phone back on its receiver; that conversation was not only important but it had been rather short.

“Get the keys for the van. I’m grabbing coffee for both of us,” Dazai ordered and Kunikida didn’t waste time asking just what had happened. He knew Dazai would inform him on the drive to wherever they were going.

[\\] 

“The door is locked on the other side,” the girl admitted and that was at least one thing these people had done right. 

“What about those things over there?” Percy inquired, his eyes flickering to the metal rectangle things that were built into the wall. “What are those for?” 

The bald man’s expression twisted at Percy’s question. “They’re cold chambers.” He answered like that explained everything. 

It didn’t and so Percy raised an eyebrow before asking, “And what are cold chambers for?” 

“They’re found in hospitals. They’re meant to hold dead bodies - there’s not any corpses in here though. I checked,” the man admitted. He too was only in his underwear. They all were in under garments that were partially soaked in sweat. Whoever was behind this could find it in themselves to install not one but two camera - the girl had informed him there were in fact two cameras when Percy had brought the camera he had seen up - and sprinklers above them that would spry out gas but not air conditioning. 

Percy narrowed his eyes at the cold chambers. Why were had whoever was behind this put them in here if they didn’t use them? The glass panels and metal beams were used to keep them contained. The sprinklers were used to drug them whenever someone was coming in and was either going to take a victim or add a victim in here. The double door though admittedly locked on this side was put in use too. So just what made the cold chambers different? 

Percy put that question to the side. He had other things he needed to know. “How many times do they come in here?” It was only after he asked that Percy thought it might be smart to clarify that question. “Not counting when they add someone in here. Also have any of you ever seen what they look like?” 

The others exchanged looks with each other. 

The Mist could disguise monsters even when a demi-god was aware of what they were and how they were hunted down. Still there were times demi-gods could see monsters for what they were. If one of these people had seen what the potential monster looked like than Percy would have an idea on just what he would being going up against. That was of course assuming they were demi-gods. The reason why Percy began to suspect they might mortals there had been no mention of monsters, gods, or even abilities. That and how they all were just waiting for what was coming instead of fighting back and escaping. It was like they weren’t used to the life that Percy lived. The life that left him prepared to going kicking and screaming if he didn’t manage to save himself. 

One by one it was admitted no one had caught sight of who was keeping them here. 

“If you were to make an attempt to escape here how would you go about it?” 

“The double doors. How else could-“ the woman’s words were cut off when she noticed the look on his face. Percy took a breath in and tried to pull back whatever had showed across his expression. 

“What about the rest of you?” Percy asked when it became clear the rest of them weren’t going to answer the question. All the answers that followed were about somehow escaping through the blue double doors that was behind them. 

Really that shouldn’t have surprised him. Even if one or two of them were demi -gods it wasn’t common to have skin like he did. 

“We’re not going to escape that way,” Percy informed them.

A man raised an eyebrow. If he wasn’t bald it would have rather close to his hairline. “You’re planning to escape? What makes-“ 

Percy interrupted him, uncaring that it was rude of him to do so. “But before we get out of here there’s two things I’m going to need.” 

“...What do you need?” It was the girl who had thought he was from Armed Detective Agency that spoke up. 

“I’m going to need one of you to attack me and not stop.” At his words surprise and bemusement made themselves known on everyone else’s faces. “I’ll be fine,” Percy reassured them, “we need to do this so we can test the reaction time.” 

“Reaction time?” It was the bald man who inquired that. He didn’t sound so unbelieving as he had before. Maybe it was having a plan instead of just a promise of an escape that made him take Percy more seriously.

“There’s two cameras watching us. I want to test how long it takes for whoever is watching us to either come down and break up the fight themselves or how long it takes for them to call someone to do it.” All that and Percy wanted to see if it was a monster who would arrive. “Then there’s the second thing I need. Someone besides me and the person whose going to be hitting me needs to count.” Percy paused. “Actually make that three things. The rest of you - besides two the people I need - have to react. Act like this surprises you. Scream or back into a corner. Or try to break up the fight by pulling whoever attacks me away only for you to let that person get away because you’re not doing a good enough job of holding them.” 

Looks were exchanged. While he gave them time to digest the plan without another word, Percy watched if anyone looked too hesitant or anything else that was fishy. 

A woman - one who hadn’t spoken up during the entire conversation- pulled her lips back in a snarl. “Shut up!” The others jerked back or shot her a rude look even though she had only told him to shut up. 

She hastily walked towards him and raised a hand. Not even five second later did it hit Percy’s cheek. Hopefully someone was counting. 

“Keep going,” Percy encouraged and there wasn’t even a hesitant look shot to him before a bare foot slammed into his ribs. Percy struggled to get up from the floor while having his hands and feet bound by handcuffs. It would be odd if he didn’t fight back. Once again he was kicked but this time it was close to his thighs. ‘Giving up’ on trying to get up Percy merely raised his legs off the floor and hooked one of the lady’s ankles with his feet and pulled. She fell down with a yelp. Once she got over the shock of what had just happened an ugly look was shot his way for having not warned her he was going to fight back. 

“You-“ the woman began, her face growing it become a bright red, only to be interrupted. 

“Come at me again,” Percy ordered since no one had stepped up to try and hold back the lady yet. Which, okay, maybe the person watching them through the cameras would assume Percy had said something so sleazy and rude that no one else was going to come to his aid. That could wor-

Percy’s ears picked up a sound. He lifted his face up to see the sprinklers that gas was leaking out of. Well, he thought as a fist was aimed at his chest, that answered how quickly the reaction was.

[\\] 

“What happened?” Kunikida asked the moment they got into the road.

“Well you’re going to make a key once we reach our destination so you can open a door and then I’m going to look about the hotel room. That way you broke in and I entered. Half the crime-“ 

Hotel room? There was only two hotel rooms that came into mind and even then as Armed Detective Agency members they had the right to investigate a property without a warrant. “Dazai,” Kunikida growled out. His eyes darted away from the road and to the only mirror inside the car. From it he could see his partner’s expression which was dark despite the bright tone he had been speaking with only just a minute ago. 

“Yosano called,” Dazai informed him. “Apparently Bachman has diplomatic immunity.” 

Kunikida grew cold. “What?” The words were not yelled out. No, they were softly spoken - a whisper really - that did not truly show angry he was. Kunikida gathered his thoughts and his temper only grew as he thought on what Bachman’s crimes. “The agency was there - Yosano was there - when Bachman tried to eat another one of his victim and even if someone was to accuse us of not being reliable witnesses for one reason or another there was-“ Kunikida’s sentence came to an abrupt halt. The boy. Yes, he hadn’t left town but he had inquired on what the next city over was. They needed to get the teenager before he did something stupid that would- a realization fell on Kunikida. It felt like a pile of bricks had been thrown at him. “Tell me Bachman is still recovering in the hospital.” It wasn’t only Percy they needed to get. Yes, Atsushi was in the agency’s dormitory but he was alone and without protection besides the boy’s ability which he couldn’t even fully control. Bachman could go after- 

“Oh he is,” Dazai’s tone was sweet as arsenic and in other circumstances Kunikida would have demanded just what Dazai knew. 

But in these circumstances Kunikida merely said, “Good. We have some time then. We’ll-“

Dazai interrupted him. “What we are going to do is go ahead and investigate the hotel room Atsushi so kindly informed us of.” 

That, Kunikida realized, explained just what his partner had meant by breaking and entering. When one compared that felony to the lives that had been lost by Bachman who would continue on murdering and eating his future victim it was no question to what was the worst crime. “Until we get there,” and there it was, Kunikida openly agreeing to his partner’s plan, “you will be calling our fellow agency members and informing them of the events that have transpired.”

Dazai’s lips tugged upward. It was a smile without teeth. “Of course, Kunikida!”


	8. The plan for a theft.

Kunikida set the car on park. The radio didn’t die down when he then took out the keys because the radio had never been on to begin with. It was Dazai who spoke up first. 

“If Bachman was to attack us we could argue self sense when another fight breaks out between him and the agency but by doing this we’re breaking the law.” 

Kunikida raised an eyebrow. “And?” For all of the man’s frustrating antics Dazai was not an actual idiot. Just why was he bringing this up now? They had after all both already agreed to do investigate Bachman’s hotel room. 

Dazai put on a smile. “I was thinking you could do the breaking and I’ll enter so that way each of us won’t commit a full crime!” Dazai chipped out in a bright tone. His words, the tone of voice he spoke with, and the smile Dazai wore did nothing to convince Kunikida there wasn’t something more going on. 

Kunikida exhaled and breathed in deep. The keys pressed into the skin of his palm. He gathered what patience he had left and used it because he was not the only one who had had a rough night. (Once they were no longer short on time Kunikida would inquire if Dazai wanted to speak about the things Bachman had said to him.) “Are you going to be truthful if I once again ask you why you said that or are you going to waste my time with a lie?” 

Seconds passed by without a word. When his partner finally did reply there was no forced joy in his voice. “I might have to later.” 

Have to? 

Despite wondering about the wording of Dazai’s sentence Kunikida didn’t not ask about it. No, he unbuckled himself instead and then opened the car door. As his feet landed on the pavement Kunikida pocketed the key ring. The sound of Dazai joining him outside the car filled the air. Kunikida closed the car door without slamming it. It was then that he looked at the hotel Bachman stayed in. It wasn’t just a nice looking establishment. The hotel gave the impression that those who rented rooms here were higher end of the middle class. Kunikida wondered how many people that stayed or worked there had missed the sounds of screams. If not for that orphan’s testament Kunikida would have assumed Bachman took his victims to a second, more secure location but Atsushi had said otherwise. He wondered if Rokuzō had screamed and, if he had, was it curses to the man who had kidnapped him or had it been for someone to rescue him. 

Something inside of Kunikida’s stomach twisted itself into knots over the thought. 

Dazai calling out his name was what brought Kunikida back to present. He began to make his way to the entrance of the hotel. His partner was already waiting there by the doors for him. When Kunikida caught up with Dazai they went into together.   
Because of the hour there was no inside the reception area besides the young lady behind the desk. At the sound of the bell going off from the door being opened the employee lifted her eyes from wherever they had previously been and looked towards them. She put on the smile before greeting them. Kunikida wondered if she was naturally thus enthusiastic or if it was the late hour that made her so. 

Kunikida reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. “My partner and I are members of the city police,” Kunikida said as opened up the wallet and showed her what was inside of it. “We have a warrant to search the room of Richard Bachman.” 

The young woman’s face went through a series of expression before it settled on a forced look of professionalism. “I can search the log but I don’t recall a guest by that name. He might have rented a room when it was someone else’s shift.” 

Kunikida didn’t need to turn to look at his partner to know this too had caught Dazai’s attention. “The criminal might be under another name. The alias would likely still be something English though. If you need one we can give you a description of his appearance.” 

“The only guests with English names we have visiting are Stephen King and a Cornelia Nimmo.” Since they already had informed her of the gender of the criminal the hotel employe then gave out the room number for Stephen as she began to look for the key card for the room. It didn’t take long for her to find it. “...Is he still at large?” She asked as she handed over the key card.

“Yes, but we’ll hopefully have him detained soon.” A moment and then Dazai continued to speak, “We would appreciate your discretion.” 

The young lady blinked. “Of course!” She all but cried out. Thankfully the room was empty besides the three of them. 

No more words were exchanged. Kunikida turned on his heel and began to make his way to the elevator. Dazai kept up with him despite Kunikida’s quick pace. It was Kunikida who reached out and pressed the button that opened the elevator door. It opened without much noise and the back portion of the elevator was lined with glass. His appearance looked ragged, Kunikida realized as the the two of them stepped inside. 

It was Dazai this time that mashed the elevator button. Once pressed the button for level six started to glow. 

Kunikida waited until the doors closed before he pronounced the name of the man who was behind the disappearances and murders of so many young citizens of the city. 

[\\] 

Fingers were lowered to the sink. Water was sprayed out of the faucet, droplets hit Atsushi’s fingers despite them not being directly under the water yet. The water was cold. Atsushi was used to cold water though. The water he had showered with at the orphanage had always been cold. 

His fingers curled into palms, nails dug into skin. It would cause crescent marks to appear across his palms but it didn’t matter. Why would it when Atsushi could heal from even having his- 

His vision was cut off as his eyelids abruptly shut. Atsushi exhaled. (Closing his eyes didn’t keep the memories from resurfacing and it didn’t get the taste out of his mouth.) He forced himself to inhale deeply. A few seconds passed. Atsushi could just stand here with his eyes close for as long as he wanted, the water running (being wasted) all the while. No one was here to berate him. 

This freedom should make him happy. It did a bit, but with this luxury came (being all alone) danger. While he no longer could be berated and punished by the staff at the orphanage Atsushi was also no longer protected by them either. 

If he hadn’t been born like this - been gifted - than none of property damage of the orphanage’s garden and chicken coop would have occurred to begin with and then the orphanage wouldn’t have been tight on money. And thus he wouldn’t have met Bachman and been so desperate to take the man on his offer. 

(But if the tiger hadn’t been a part of him then he wouldn’t be alive now would he? So could he truly hold everything against it?) 

The water was warming up. It was that that finally made Atsushi open his eyes and uncurl his fingers. There were indeed marks splattered across his palms where his nails had dug into the skin.

There also was a different skin tone between the two hands when you focused on them. Atsushi averted his eyes from his hands. Not for the first time tonight Atsushi cupped his hands together to gather up water to lift up to his lips. Atsushi swished the water he had drank for over a minute, hoping this time it would get the remnants of flesh out of his mouth. 

(He looked around earlier for any dental floss and unfortunately hadn’t found any and despite Dazai-sama saying to call or text him if Atsushi needed anything Atsushi wouldn’t take the detective up on that offer.) 

Atsushi parted his lips and the water - now a bit pink in color - fell into the sink. Atsushi lifted up his tongue and began to probe between his teeth to see if anything was still stuck between them. 

The sound of knuckles knocking against wood caught Atsushi’s attention and caused him to pause.

Atsushi made quick work of turning off the faucet before making his way to room. The shoji kept the moon and its light from leaking in to the room he had been given but Atsushi had no problems making his way through this foreign apartment. (You didn’t really see stars in the city had been something Atsushi had come to learn - only the moon could been seen.) And even if he did have problems making his way through room it wasn’t like there was a lot of furniture Atsushi could bump into - the furnishing was sparse; after Dazai-sama had left the first thing Atsushi had done was further explore this apartment should he need to get out. He had seen Bachaman through the tiger’s eyes - his eyes - as the man had been shot but still fear pressed into him like someone had sat down on his chest and refused to get up.

Hearing someone knocking at this hour didn’t lessen that emotion. Instead of going straight to the door it was to the futon Atsushi walked towards. When he reached it he leaned down before slipping a damp hand under the pillow. His fingers curled around the cellphone Dazai-sama had insisted he keep along with wanting Atsushi to stay here for the next few days. After getting it out from under the pillow Atsushi flipped the phone open so he could view the screen. The sight that greeting him was the screensaver, the current hour and minute, and a single text from the lists of contacts Dazai-sama had programmed into it. 

**I sent two of our members to come collect you. Things have changed and it’s important that you go with them.**

It was then and only then that Ataushi made his way to the door. He made quick work of unlocking it. His hand grasped the doorknob before twisting it to the side. The door opened without a sound. The sight that greeted him was of two people around his age who looked alert despite the late hour. The two teenagers were connected by the each having an elbow slipped in the others’. 

The teenage girl had loose dark hair. Despite her hair being down it didn’t cover up the beauty mark on her face. She was rather pretty, Atsushi quickly realized, and the person she was with was rather handsome too despite his laid back appearance. There was a hair pin in his auburn hair that after a few seconds of looking at the teenager Atsushi noticed it shared the same color as the earring he had on. It was the teenage boy who broke the silence first. The Armed Detective Agency member raised up a hand that was partially covered up by the sleeve of his shirt. “Hello, I’m Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and this is-“ 

“I’m Naomi Tanizaki,” Noami chirped in, interrupting her brother without care. “Dazai-san sent us to come collect you and then we’re all suppose to rejoin the others.” There was something unyielding in tone she spoke with. Did she think he wouldn’t want to come with her? (What would they do if he didn’t? Not that he wasn’t planning to listen Dazai-sama but Atsushi couldn’t help but wonder what they would do if Atsushi didn’t agree.) 

“Naomi, you’re going home after this.” Her brother protested. Oh. It was her going that she wanted dearly instead of her thinking Atsushi might refuse to listen to them. 

“If Yosano-san isn’t safe in a government building and Atsushi-san isn’t safe in the agency’s dormitory what makes you think I would be safer in our home all by myself?   
You heard Dazai-san. We’re safer in a group than we are by ourselves,” Naomi argued back, laying down the logic she had to justify getting her way. 

Atsushi opened his mouth, about to ask why he wasn’t safe despite the suspicion (let me be wrong, let it be anyone but him) that had taken root inside of but Naomi continued talking before he could speak up. 

“If we’re a group we can defend who Bachman is trying to target sign his ability but if I’m alone how am I suppose to defend myself against someone who takes on my fears?” 

Jun'ichirō’s slackened expression grew solemn. He looked far older than Atsushi in this moment but Atsushi could barely pay attention to the translation because Bachman got away from custody. He must have been the one who hurt Yosano. Atsushi’s heartbeat grew fast. Naomi had used isn’t earlier. She must still be alive then but for how long? “I won’t let him harm you,” he swore to his sister and his tone of voice had grown hard. It was eerier than the unyielding tone Naomi had spoken with earlier. 

Naomi pressed herself closer to her brother. “If I go with you and Atsushi I’ll also be with around Ranpo-san. If anyone could figure out how to stop Bachman it will be him or Dazai-san.” 

“....How did he escape custody?” His own voice sounded foreign to him. Or maybe, Atsushi mused, everything around including his own voice felt it was happening somewhere distant from where he was because of what he just learned.

Jun'ichirō’s face twisted into itself from displeasure. “He has diplomatic immunity despite all the children and teenagers he’s killed. I don’t understand how they‘ll just let him go after there being several witnesses.” 

“The Armed Detective Agency is still going to go after him despite the immunity?” Atsushi asked, the surprise he felt slipped into his voice. 

“Of course we are.” A moment and then, “Come on we do need to get going.”

“What about, Percy?” 

It was then that Jun'ichirō’s expression melted into something less hostile. “Dazai-san didn’t mention for Percy to be picked up when he gave me instructions. I’m sure that some other member of the Agency will keep him safe though.” 

[\\] 

The screen of her mother’s phone was the only light in the closet. After she hit the sent button she flipped it closed. Because of the string attached to it when Kyoka released her grip on the phone it merely hung around her neck instead of clattering to the floor and giving away to her targets that someone had broken in. 

She was slow in opening the closet door and when she stepped into the bedroom she didn’t bother closing it behind her. She began to make her way towards the door that would let her outside of the bedroom only to come to a pause as a voice called out. “The offer for a Cheese ‘n’ Wiener is still open you know!” 

She must be talking to her child, Kyoka realized as she forced herself to move forward; she only had so much time before the call was given. Kyoka reached a hand out and grabbed the doorknob. She twisted it to the side before pulling it open. There was a light on not in the living room but in the entranceway to the hotel room. This would make it easier to not be seen. Once again Kyoka did not bother in closing the door behind her. 

“Come out, Perseus,” cried out the impatient woman. “I know you’re here! You smell so much like your father after all. And, look, I’ll even feed you do you don’t die on an empty stomach despite your father.” 

It was not the declaration that unnerved Kyoka but rather what she saw. In place of where one of her targets would have been - should have been - was a woman who favored Demon Snow than she did a normal woman; it was obvious she was an ability of sorts or, Kyoka mused as she unsheathed her knife, her ability somehow affected her appearance. 

Yellow eyes fell on Kyoka as she stepped near. In place of where hair would have been there were green snakes writhing upon this woman’s head and shoulders. More than one snake had its teeth barred despite the friendly tone the woman had spoken with. That wasn’t surprising considering she admitted to wanting to kill someone with that friendly tone of voice. The winged woman lifted her lips at the sight of Kyoka. All that did was make her tusks more prominent. “Are you one of Perseus’ little friends?” The woman asked in a sweet tone. “I didn’t smell you - it’s because Perseus’s scent is so strong - but don’t think I won’t give you some Cheese ‘n’ Wieners too if you want!” There was no comment made about the weapon in Kyoka’s hands. 

“Yes, please,” Kyoka murmured and delight made the woman’s eyes brighten. 

Kyoka did not wait for a hand to pluck one of the samples off the tray the woman was carrying. In a swift movement Kyoka sprinted forward and slashed the knife in her han- 

Her weapon sliced through the air instead of splitting the flower patterned fabric and the skin underneath the clothing. Kyoka’s eyes widened for the first time in over a month but she not let the shock she felt leave her frozen. She leapt back, her sandals falling upon the wood of the apartment which caused a clattering like noise to fill the air. 

Was this woman’s intangibility partial in regards to covering her body or was her entire body covered? Was it only certain metals she couldn’t be harmed from or could nothing harm at all if she turned on the ability?

“That was rude! If my sister was here she would lecture me that any demi-god will be rude and cunning but I wanted to believe if I was kind and upfront so would you.” Her lips fell into a frown. “I’ll just have to-“ 

A familiar ringing filled the air. It was time to further test this woman’s ability. Despite keeping her eyes on the threat, Kyoka opened up her phone with her free hand before pressing it against her ear. The phone was cold against her ear. “Shred your targets to pieces Demon Snow,” Akutagawa ordered. Light abruptly filled the room as Demon Snow was once more summoned. The sound of a sword scraping against its sheath filled the room as the woman gawked at the ability Kyoka’s inherited. 

The woman didn’t even get a word out before Demon Snow’s sword fell upon her neck. There was no blood that spewed out from the neck but rather a sort of sand fell from the area. There was no thud because the head didn’t fall to the floor like it should have. No, the only thing that was left was sand that fell upon the floor. Kyoka stepped closer at the pile. She tilted her head at the sight only to narrow her eyes a few seconds later. She slipped her knife back into its sheath before reaching out and touching the two clumps that were in the pile. Her fingers pressed against something solid and so she curled her fingers around it. Kyoka lifted her hand from the pile. A little bit of sand fell from the hand but the vials filled with a dark red liquid. 

She wasn’t human then. Just an ability that had some sort of connection to sand and likely blood. 

An ability that hadn’t been alone before Demon Snow had beheaded it. 

[\\] 

The collected ball of sweat was a tiny bit more larger than the size of his pinky curled into itself. It rested in the palm of his left hand. (Said hand was beginning to feel a bit numb from the position Percy was left in because of being handcuffed not once but twice.) His stomach expanded as Percy deeply inhaled before beginning to focus on the task at hand. “When I break us out of here I want you all to keep behind me.” 

“You still haven’t explained you’re oh so brilliant escape plan.” 

Percy pressed his wrists against the warm metal of the handcuffs before putting as much space as he could between his two hands. (First his hands and then he’ll break the handcuffs between his feet.) It took a few seconds before links broke with a snap. Nothing fell to the floor so they must be dangling from which ever cuff they were connected to. He didn’t get up from the floor despite the uncomfortable position he had been left in.

“It’s about to start. When it happens you all need to get out of here and put as much distance between you and this cage as you can because whoever is watching the camera feed has a fast reaction time. That said, stay behind me.” After he finished speaking Percy lifted his right ankle as far as he could. The links for that handcuff broke quickly just as the others had. It was then and only then that Percy moved and he moved with an alarming speed. It wasn’t forward that Percy ran but rather he took several steps backwards. The back of sweat did not drip from Percy’s hand despite all the movement. 

There were gasps from the others but Percy paid them no mind before he started running forward. 

Glass shattered and fell upon the floor. 

Percy breathed in some air before raising his head to look upon one of the cameras. Come on, Percy thought as the others kidnapped victims started to escape. He hoped this time it would be a men whoever watching from the camera would send instead of releasing gas or potentially a monster. 

Someone cried out begging him and Percy jerked his head around. A woman was clutching one of her feet as blood began to seep out of a wound. Not everyone had his invulnerability but there wasn’t a large list of possibilities in regarding being able to escape a glass prison. Sure there were double doors at the very back but that was more expected than this and likely that was someone was entering the prison to leave food. If he was right then he had no idea what lie in the room connected to that door. He didn’t know how many people could be in there- 

One of the double doors opened with a bang. Unless the Mist was at work then the person sent to stop them was a man wearing a gas mask just like the taxi driver had. 

The sight of an enemy did not make Percy’s expression twist. No, his lips lifted upwards at the sight of the man wearing pants. He had hoped for this outcome after all. 

“Change of plans. You all stick together and get out of here while I handle this guy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shows up late with a cup of tea.* So 2020 was a nightmare and 2021 hasn’t been that great so far either. 
> 
> Special thanks goes to SahaTheDeceitfulSlytherin for being so patient on this chapter taking so long.


End file.
